2024-07-10 20:42:22
Lisa Pisano, 54, became the second person to receive a gene-edited pig kidney transplant (designed to increase compatibility between the pig graft and its human recipient) in a surgery that also included implanting a mechanical heart pump to keep her heart beating.
Pisano, from New Jersey, was also the first to receive a transplant and a heart pump because she suffered from kidney and heart failure. Less than two months later, her new kidney had to be removed because of irregular blood flow related to the heart pump, forcing her to return to dialysis.
Langone Institute Director Robert Montgomery said in a statement Tuesday that Pisano was a “brave and selfless” woman. “Lisa’s contributions to medicine, surgery and xenotransplantation cannot be underestimated. […] “Lisa helped us get closer to realizing a future where someone doesn’t have to die for someone else to live,” he said.
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The text stressed that Pisano’s “courage gave hope to thousands of people living with terminal kidney or heart failure, and who could soon benefit from an alternative supply of organs.”
The first person to receive a kidney from a genetically modified pig was Richard Slayman, 62, in Massachusetts last March, but he died two months later.
Kidneys are one of the most in-demand organs in transplant units in the United States, where there are some 800,000 people in need: many patients spend years on waiting lists, and some of them die without having received a transplant, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located on either side of the spine, just below the rib cage. Each kidney is about the size of a fist. Their main function is to filter and remove waste, minerals, and fluid from the blood by producing urine.
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