In a first-of-its-kind procedure, a terminally ill patient has become the first person in the world to undergo a gene-edited pig kidney transplant and also have a mechanical heart pump surgically implanted.
Surgeons at NYU Langone Health, in New York City, performed the operation in two steps, the first being the implantation of the heart pump. The second took place days later, with the transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney and the pig’s thymus gland — which makes white blood cells to help the immune system fight disease — to help prevent rejection.
The patient is 54-year-old Lisa Pisano, from New Jersey, who was facing heart failure and end-stage kidney disease, NYU Langone said Wednesday.
Due to several chronic conditions, including being on dialysis, she was not a candidate for a heart transplant or a kidney transplant, the hospital said.
Additionally, Pisano has high levels of antibodies harmful to human tissue that would make it difficult to find a match for a human kidney transplant, according to the hospital. However, these antibodies were not harmful to gene-edited pig organs.
“All I want is the opportunity to have a better life,” Pisano said in a statement. “After I was ruled out for a human transplant, I learned I didn’t have a lot of time left. My doctors thought there may be a chance I could be approved to receive a gene-edited pig kidney, so I discussed it with my family and my husband.”
