Septuagenarian patient lived for 38 days with pig liver

International

FOR 38 days, a man in China survived with a pig’s liver working inside his body, a medical first that scientists say could redefine the limits of organ transplantation.

Doctors at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University reported that the 71-year-old patient lived 171 days after receiving a genetically modified pig liver, the longest documented survival after such a procedure.

The results, published in the Journal of Hepatology, mark a milestone in xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs in humans.

Although pig hearts and kidneys have been transplanted into people, the liver has been considered too complex to replace because of its size, dual blood supply, and many vital functions.

Dr. Beicheng Sun, president of the hospital and co-author of the study, said the outcome may change that perception.

“Everyone always says, ‘oh, liver is too complicated to transplant, compared to the heart or kidney,’ but after this, in the future, I think people will think differently,” he said in a CNN report.

The patient had hepatitis B-related cirrhosis and a large liver tumor that could not be treated successfully with chemotherapy.

Surgery alone would have left too little liver tissue, and no suitable living donors were found.

After consulting with his daughter, he agreed to undergo the experimental transplant. Sun later said the patient and his family made an invaluable contribution to medical research by consenting to the procedure.

Surgeons used a liver from an 11-month-old cloned pig that had ten gene edits to reduce infection and rejection risk.

The organ began functioning immediately, producing bile and improving liver indicators with no early signs of rejection. After nearly a month, however, the patient’s heart and immune system showed stress, and doctors removed the pig liver on day 38 once his own liver had recovered enough to sustain him.

He lived another 133 days before dying from gastrointestinal bleeding unrelated to the transplant.

The researchers concluded that pig livers could serve as temporary support for patients awaiting recovery or a human donor.

Dr. Heiner Wedemeyer, chair of gastroenterology and hepatology at Hannover Medical School, described the achievement as “really groundbreaking,” saying it gives specialists new ways to help patients who might otherwise have no options.(MyTVCebu)