News Desk:
The "historic" procedure took place Friday, the University of Maryland Medical School said in a statement on Monday. In a landmark first-of-its kind surgery, doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine outside Washington DC have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a 57-year-patient with terminal illness.
The patient, David Bennett, had been deemed ineligible for human transplant -- a decision that is often taken when the recipient has very poor underlying health.
He is now recovering and being carefully monitored to determine how the new organ performs.
The Maryland resident said a day before the surgery that ,"It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it's a shot in the dark, but it's my last choice."
Bennett, who has spent the last several months bedridden on a heart-lung bypass machine, added: "I look forward to getting out of bed after I recover."
Bartley Griffith, who surgically transplanted the pig heart said that ,
"This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis.We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future."
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