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The Gift of Life Is Multiplied Exponentially with Whole-Body Donation

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When Alva Capuano was discovered unconscious in her living room, her husband, Richard, and then paramedics did everything possible to get her heart beating again. But by the time it did, her brain had experienced irreversible damage. Her family accepted that Alva, 64, was gone. Their sorrow fueled a determination to fulfill her last wish: As the recipient of a donated pancreas and kidney, Alva had hoped to become an organ donor herself.
Read the article from NYU Langone Health NewsHub.

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Here’s What’s Next for Pig Organ Transplants

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2022 was a breakthrough year for xenotransplantation, a procedure that could be a lifeline for patients in desperate need of a donor.

THE NIGHT BEFORE the transplant, surgeon Bartley Griffith didn’t sleep well. When he awoke around 3 am and went to make a cup of coffee, he forgot to put his mug below the machine and ended up with coffee all over the floor.  Read the full story in Wired.

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Study demonstrates unexpected electrical changes in first successful transplant of genetically-modified pig heart

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Ten months after transplanting the first genetically-modified pig heart into a human patient, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers continue to report on new findings from the landmark transplant. Their latest study demonstrates for the first time that unexpected electrical changes occurred in the pig heart transplanted into the patient David Bennett. The findings were presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) meeting this past weekend. Read more in News Medical Life Sciences.

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Puzzling, Unique ECG From Pig-to-Human Transplanted Heart

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In the first transplant of a genetically altered pig heart into a human in January, initial unexpected, prolonged ECG readings apparently did not affect the heart’s function, although the organ suddenly began to fail at day 50.

A study of these ECG changes, scheduled for presentation by Calvin Kagan, MD, and colleagues at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2022 Scientific Sessions, offers insight into this novel operation. Read more in Medscape.

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First pig-to-human cardiac transplant alters heart’s electrical signals

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A recent study to be presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2022* revealed unexpected changes in the electrical conduction system of the first genetically-modified porcine-to-human heart xenotransplant.

Xenotransplantation is the procedure of transplantation/implantation into a human of organs from non-human animal sources. Read more in News Medical Life Sciences.

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The Search Is On for Another Xeno Heart Transplant Recipient

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— Transplant surgeons discuss testing the concept in more humans


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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Playing by the strict rules of the FDA, xenotransplant researchers are itching to apply the lessons learned from this year’s historic case of cardiac surgery in their quest to move the transplant field forward amid a strained supply of donor organs.

In the landmark case, the first person to undergo a pig heart xenotransplant, David Bennett, age 57, had been denied a traditional human heart transplant from several programs before he ultimately agreed to the experimental surgery. The FDA green-lit the xenotransplant, and Bennett was kept alive for 60 days before succumbing to graft failure and sudden diastolic failure without evidence of traditional allograft rejection.
Read the full story in MedPage Today.

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Genetically Engineered Porcine Organs for Human Xenotransplantation

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Abstract

Xenotransplantation holds a promising future for many patients, especially those with end-stage renal disease or uncontrollable serum glucose levels. Porcine organs are viewed as the perfect candidate for a source of xenografts. However, the recipient’s immunity, incompatibility of biologic systems, and transfer of new pathogenic organisms are all obstacles to clinical xenotransplantation, in addition to the risk of zoonosis and xenoantigens. Genetic modification of pigs using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) resulted in the production of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV)-free offsprings with the consequent removal of many clinical complications post-transplantation. Read the complete abstract from Cureus.

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Pig heart transplants in humans show signs of success

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In the past month, researchers transplanted pig hearts into two people who had suffered catastrophic heart failure and were left brain dead but remained on life support. 

New research in which doctors transplanted genetically modified pig hearts into people who were clinically dead could pave the way for human trials and a future with more organ transplants that can prolong lives. 

In the past month, researchers at NYU Langone Health transplanted pig hearts into two people who had recently suffered catastrophic heart failure and were left brain dead but remained on life support.  Read more from NBC News here.

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Top in cardiology: Heart xenotransplants; link between atrial fibrillation and alcohol

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Genetically engineered pig hearts were successfully transplanted into recently deceased humans as part of an effort to create a xenotransplantation protocol for patients with heart disease.

The team of surgeons who performed the investigational procedures observed no early signs of organ rejection over 72 hours. Nader Moazami, MD, surgical director of heart transplantation at the NYU Langone Transplant Institute who led the team, said it was “a milestone and a steppingstone in the right direction.” It was the top story in cardiology last week. Read the full story in Healio.

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Latest Pig-to-Human Heart Transplant: Back to the Drawing Board?

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— Researchers hope to learn more from xenotransplants in brain-dead recipients

Surgeons at New York University (NYU) transplanted two genetically modified pig hearts into individuals who were brain dead, and saw good cardiac function, with no signs of immediate rejection during a 72-hour observation period.

The xenotransplants were conducted on June 16 and July 6 at NYU Langone Tisch Hospital in New York City, and had 10 genetic modifications aimed at preventing rejection and stopping abnormal organ growth. Read more in MedPage Today.

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