Surgeons at NYU Langone Health successfully completed the first transplant surgery that combined a heart pump and a genetically edited pig kidney. The receipt was Lisa Pisano, a 54-year-old suffering from heart failure and kidney disease. Pisano was ineligible for a traditional heart or kidney transplant due to chronic medical conditions, so her doctors decided to try a xenotransplant— the transplant of an animal organ into a human. The pig kidney used in Pisano’s surgery was genetically edited to ensure her body wouldn’t reject the organ, and was transplanted with a mechanical heart pump to assist with heart functionality. This is the second instance of a pig kidney being transplanted into a human, and the first to be transplanted with a heart device. Pisano’s kidney is now functioning regularly, and her heart is improving everyday. Although she still has a long road ahead, Pisano is optimistic that this historic surgery will give her a second shot at a healthy life.Â
Image via CNN
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