Second recipient of pig heart transplant dies after nearly six weeks

The second recipient of a pig heart transplant has passed away, nearly six weeks after undergoing the experimental surgery in Maryland, his medical team revealed on Tuesday.

Lawrence Faucette, aged 58, had been battling heart failure and was not eligible for a traditional heart transplant. Instead, on September 20, he received a genetically modified pig heart.

For the first month after the surgery, the pig's heart appeared to be functioning well. However, in recent days, signs of rejection emerged, and Faucette sadly passed away on Monday.


Faucette's wife, Ann, expressed that her husband knew his time was limited, and this procedure was his final opportunity to contribute to the advancement of medical science.

"He never actually expected surviving as long as he did," Faucette's wife revealed.

The University of Maryland School of Medicine which is the institution behind the surgery had previously performed the world's first transplant of a genetically altered pig heart into another patient.

David Bennett was the recipient of the first pig heart but survived only two months before the organ failed. Although the exact reasons for this failure were not entirely clear, subsequent examination revealed the presence of pig virus indicators inside the organ. Lessons from this initial attempt were applied to the second procedure, which included more rigorous virus testing.

In a statement, Dr. Bartley Griffith, the lead surgeon at the University of Maryland Medical Center, noted that Faucette's last wish was for the medical community to benefit from the insights gained during this experience.

Efforts to achieve animal-to-human organ transplants, known as xenotransplants, have encountered decades of failures due to immediate rejection by the recipient's immune system. Now, researchers are revisiting this approach by utilizing pigs that have been genetically modified to make their organs more human-like.

Faucette, a Navy veteran and a father of two from Frederick, Maryland, was deemed ineligible for a conventional heart transplant due to other underlying health issues. He turned to the Maryland hospital as a last resort, expressing a desire to spend more time with his family.

In mid-October, the hospital reported that Faucette had regained enough strength to stand and even shared a video showing him engaging in rigorous physical therapy.

Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, who leads the cardiac xenotransplant team, stated that they would closely examine what transpired with the pig heart as they continue their research on pig organ transplants.

Currently, over 100,000 people are on the national waiting list for organ transplants, with most awaiting kidney transplants. Tragically, thousands die while waiting for an available organ. Several scientific teams have conducted tests with pig kidneys and hearts in monkeys and human bodies donated for research, to obtain enough data for the Food and Drug Administration to permit formal xenotransplant studies.