NBC: Their loved ones died after receiving pig organ transplants. The families have no regrets.

Saturday, 7 September, 2024 — transplant

Aria Bendix reporting for NBC:

…two months later, Bennett Sr.’s body rejected the heart and he died at age 57. In a paper, his doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center explained that his body had likely produced too many antibodies that fought off the new organ. A drug he’d been given may also have increased the odds of rejection, and a virus in the pig heart further complicated matters.

Three other patients have followed in Bennett Sr.’s footsteps and received pig organs, most recently a pig kidney transplant in April. Together, they represent the pioneer patients of the burgeoning field of xenotransplantation. For their families, three of which spoke to NBC News about the experience, the journey came with a roller coaster of emotions, from uncertainty to blind hope — and, ultimately, admiration for their loved one’s decision.

…

None of the patients survived more than three months. To the public, that might seem like failure. But to the families, the transplants accomplished their goals: to buy their loved ones more time and advance research that could potentially save lives one day.

This includes Rick Slayman, whose transplant I linked to earlier news items (one, two), although Slayman’s family did not contribute to Bendix’s reporting.

Xenotransplantation, in this case, pig hearts and pig kidneys, is an amazing scientific breakthrough. These transplant families have been through a lot and, it is amazing to me how supportive they are of their loved ones living a little bit longer — days or weeks — to move the medical science forward.

As ever, the defining need is more available donors to help wait list patients. It’s a hard story when health declines so much, in part because tranplant wait times can be so long for suitable matches, particularly for heart and lung transplants, that someone who needs a transplant would no longer qualify medically to receive one.

My hope is over the next few decades there are multiple improvements that allow improved xenotransplantation, cloned human organs, an increase in deceased donor donation viability, and, plainly, more folks willing to donate altruistically while living for kidney or part of their liver. Alongside that, better medical advances to reduce the need for transplants altogether, less terrible and more effective forms of dialysis. May progress continue.