34 minutes ago
image source, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Mr. Bennett with his son (left) and director of the Animal Heart Transplant Program. University of Maryland
A surgeon who transplanted a pig heart to a 57-year-old American, David Bennett, who died just two months after the operation, said he had found the virus in the pig heart used for the transplant. say making it possible that the man who received the world’s first pig heart transplant may die from this cause
The New York Times reported that Dr. Bartley Griffith, surgeon at the Animal Organ Transplant Program University of Maryland Medical Center It was revealed to an academic conference that small amounts of Porcine Cytomegalovirus (PCMV) had been found in pig hearts transplanted to Mr Bennett. During his recovery after surgery This virus is common in many stray animals.
MIT Technological Review magazine reported that the team prepared the organ before surgery. The regenerative medicine company Revivicor did not detect this pathogen at first. Despite warnings from many experts before that. There is a risk that animal organ transplants will introduce new pathogens that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
After surgery at the beginning of Jan. Bennett’s condition appeared normal for the first 45 days, and the transplanted pig’s heart was working fine, but Griffith detected PCMV in Ben’s new heart. nett About 20 days after the surgery, he insisted the patient showed no signs of infection. And there is no spread of infection to other organs in the body.
image source, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Mr. Bennett’s pig heart transplant In January of this year
“The fact that we detected the infection from the 20th day after surgery Since the infection appeared very quickly. This makes it possible that it may multiply and spread even more thereafter, until by day 45 the patient’s symptoms worsened. He started having a fever, shortness of breath, unable to speak and ignoring his surroundings,” Dr Griffith said.
However, a statement from the University of Maryland states that Evidence of Bennett’s infection has yet to be found, and Dr Griffith has yet to determine the exact cause of death. Even if the virus is detected Currently, he continues to conduct analytical studies. It is believed that the main cause of Mr. Bennett’s death was This was because he had already had critical heart failure before the surgery.
The University of Maryland statement also confirmed that The team of doctors and nurses performing surgery It complies with all US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for the preparation and delivery of sterile genetically engineered pig hearts. The transplanted organs also came from pigs raised on sterile farms.