Richard Slayman dies 7 weeks after historic pig-kidney transplant
Richard Slayman, the primary particular person to ever obtain a kidney from a pig, has died, based on Massachusetts Normal Hospital, the place the transplant was carried out in March.
In an announcement late Saturday, the transplant crew stated they “don’t have any indication” Slayman’s demise was the results of the transplant, which the hospital had heralded as a serious scientific achievement.
Slayman, 62, a programs supervisor for the Massachusetts Division of Transportation, had already endured a transplant with a human kidney that needed to be eliminated due to issues and was scuffling with three-times-a-week dialysis when he agreed to the experimental pig-kidney process.
Once they introduced that surgical procedure had been profitable, the Mass. Normal crew stated such animal-to-human transplants, often known as xenotransplantation, supply the potential of fixing the human organ scarcity and a possible possibility for the tons of of hundreds of Individuals struggling on dialysis.
Slayman gave the impression to be recovering effectively. He walked inside a number of days of the March 16 process and was launched from the hospital April 3.
The hospital’s Saturday assertion included feedback from members of the family, saying they have been “deeply saddened” by his passing however grateful for the additional seven weeks that they had with Slayman. They appreciated realizing his participation within the analysis supplied inspiration to others.
“Hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide have come to know Rick’s story. We felt – and nonetheless really feel – comforted by the optimism he offered sufferers desperately ready for a transplant,” the assertion stated, partly.
Mass. Normal transplant crew members, a few of whom had handled Slayman for years, praised his generosity and kindness and described him as a “beacon of hope” for different sufferers. “We’re deeply grateful for his belief and willingness to advance the sector of xenotransplantation,” the crew stated.
Two sufferers who acquired pig hearts on the College of Maryland Medical Middle additionally died inside two months of their procedures in 2022 and 2023.
A girl who acquired a pig kidney at NYU Langone Well being on April 12 continues to get well. Her coronary heart and kidney are “functioning optimally,” Dr. Robert Montgomery, who directs the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, stated in an announcement to USA TODAY.
“Whereas she stays below intensive care, we see progress after her lengthy historical past of adverse well being challenges,” Montgomery stated. “We hope to transition her to rehab within the subsequent few weeks so we will get her again residence to her household.”
The pig organs used for transplant come from animals which can be gene-edited to make their organs much less more likely to be rejected by the human immune system. Rejection, which is frequent amongst human-to-human transplants, probably prompted the demise of one of many coronary heart transplant sufferers, who died six weeks after surgical procedure. No rejection was evident within the different two.
Karen Weintraub will be reached at kweintraub@usatoday.com.
