The first patient to receive a pig kidney transplant in the United States of America

Richard Solomon underwent the first pig kidney transplant on a living patientReproduction

Published 04/04/2024 07:55 | Updated on 04/04/2024 at 08:42

Richard Solomon, a 62-year-old American, was discharged from a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, after undergoing a pig kidney transplant into his body. The operation took place on March 16, and medical clearance was granted on Wednesday (3).

The patient showed small signs of rejection on the eighth day after surgery, according to Brazilian physician Dr. Leonardo Vi Riela, director of kidney transplantation at the hospital. However, Suleiman once again showed signs of normalcy and adaptation to the new body. This was the first pig kidney transplant to a living patient in history.

“It was a rollercoaster the first week,” the doctor said. But for reassurance, he added: “Soliman responded to treatment like patients who receive organs from human donors,” according to what the New York Times reported.

“This procedure represents an important milestone in trying to make organs more readily available to patients,” the hospital said in a statement.

surgery

Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said the patient, a 62-year-old man suffering from chronic kidney failure, underwent a four-hour surgery on March 16.

Pig kidneys have already been transplanted into brain-dead people and have been successful. In the past, living patients also received heart transplants from a genetically modified pig, but they died.

Patient Richard Solomon of Weymouth, Massachusetts, said doctors “explained to me in detail the pros and cons of this procedure.”

“I saw this as a way to not only help myself, but also to give hope to thousands of people who need an organ transplant to survive,” he added.

More than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant in the United States, especially kidneys.

With information from Agence France-Presse.