Last week, a groundbreaking medical procedure was carried out at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where Richard Slayman became the first person to undergo a successful transplant of a pig kidney. At 62, Slayman, who had been suffering from kidney failure and undergoing dialysis, received the organ through a four-hour surgery performed by the hospital’s team.
Dr. Winfred Williams, Slayman’s nephrologist and the associate chief of Mass General’s nephrology division, emphasized the significance of this event. He highlighted the potential of this breakthrough to impact various medical fields, especially if the kidney continues to function effectively.
This pioneering operation in xenotransplantation – the process of transplanting organs from animals to humans – could bring new hope to the thousands of individuals in the U.S. waiting for organ transplants. Currently, over 100,000 people in the U.S. are on organ transplant waiting lists, with about 90,000 in need of kidneys, as reported by the United Network for Organ Sharing.
However, xenotransplantation is not without risks. Previous attempts, such as two pig-to-human heart transplants in the U.S., resulted in the patients living only up to two months post-operation.
Slayman’s surgery occurred five days ago, and he remains under recovery at Mass General. Williams expressed optimism about Slayman’s condition, noting the absence of any signs of rejection by his immune system. While they continue to monitor for any signs of infection, particularly a specific virus that led to the death of a recipient of a genetically modified pig heart in 2022, Williams remarked that Slayman’s vital signs are stable, and he appears to be on a good path to recovery.
Dr. Jayme Locke, a transplant surgeon at the University of Alabama Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, expressed intrigue in determining whether the pig kidney serves as a temporary solution or a permanent one. She called this development “game-changing.”
However, this procedure is still experimental and not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It was conducted under the FDA’s compassionate use program, which allows patients with severe, life-threatening conditions to access experimental treatments. Experts, including Karen Maschke from the Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute, view this as a unique case amid the broader context of kidney failure, which affects approximately 800,000 people in the U.S.
Slayman had previously received a kidney transplant from a human donor in 2018 but had to return to dialysis following the transplant’s failure. Dr. Leonardo Riella, Mass General’s medical director of kidney transplantation, proposed the pig kidney transplant as an alternative to another lengthy wait for a human donor.
The kidney, provided by eGenesis, a drugmaker in Cambridge, Massachusetts, underwent 69 genetic modifications to minimize rejection and infection risks. Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, who performed the surgery, described the immediate success of the transplant, with the kidney functioning effectively right after the procedure.