The first man to be transplanted with a genetically modified kidney from a pig has been discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
Richard Slayman, 62, was allowed to go home, after an emergency operation to transplant the organ from a pig was successful.
The success of the surgery has been hailed by scientists as a historic step in the field of transplantation. In the past, organ transplants from pigs have been unsuccessful.
A statement from Massachusetts General Hospital, said Mr Slayman, was battling kidney disease, and needed a kidney transplant to save his life.
His doctors successfully transplanted the kidney in a four-hour operation on March 16, 2024.
Confirming the success, they said that the kidney implanted in Mr. Slayman is now working well and that he does not need frequent dialysis.
The doctors’ decision to allow Mr Slayman to leave the hospital made him happy as he thanked them for taking care of him. The head of doctors at the organ union at the hospital, Mr. David Klassen, said that the operation of using organs from animals to humans is a great hope among patients facing the disease.
The hospital said Mr Slayman will continue to take several immunosuppressive drugs, and will be closely monitored with blood and urine tests three times a week, as well as doctor’s visits twice a week.
His doctors have warned Mr Slayman to return to work. They said he needed to rest for six weeks. To take precautions to avoid infection due to drugs that suppress his immune system.
The head of the Department of kidney transplantation, Mr Leonardo Riella, mentioned the existence of challenges in the transplantation of any animal organs to humans.
