Pig Kidney Transplant Successful For First Living Human

(CTN News) – Earlier this week, Massachusetts General Hospital doctors performed the world’s first-ever transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney into a living human. The transplant is being hailed as the most groundbreaking achievement in modern medicine.

A pioneering procedure of this kind marks an important advancement in the field of transplantation and offers hope to countless patients around the world who are in need of an organ.

Rick Slayman, 62, from Weymouth, Massachusetts, is one of the recipients of this historic transplant. He is a resilient, 62-year-old who had been struggling with end-stage kidney disease for a long time.

For many years, Mr Slayman had been one of the hospital’s long term patients, suffering from the debilitating effects of diabetes and high blood pressure until he underwent his initial kidney transplant from a human donor in 2018.

In spite of the initial success of the transplant, Mr. Slayman’s kidney began to show signs of failure five years after the procedure, resulting in the need for him to switch back to dialysis in 2023.

A pig kidney is a groundbreaking procedure that was proposed by Mr. Slayman’s medical team in order to explore all possible avenues for a life-saving solution for Mr. Slayman.

As expressed in a written statement provided by the hospital, Mr. Slayman expressed his appreciation for the opportunity, stating that he saw as a way not just to help himself, but also to give hope to thousands of people who are in need of to survive.

A transformative surgery was performed by Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, one of the world’s leading experts in tolerance, the eminent director of the Legorreta Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance.

According to Dr. Kawai, the kidney used in the procedure was meticulously modified in order for it to correspond to the size and function of a human kidney, ensuring compatibility and efficacy during the procedure.

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