Current Condition of US Man Recipient of Pig Kidney: Improved, Allowed to Go Home
Latest news about the world's first pig kidney transplant patient. (Photo: AP/)
- The first patient in the US to receive a kidney transplant from a pig was allowed to go home from the hospital on Wednesday (3/4/2024). The condition of the man named Richard Slayman improved only two weeks after the operation.
Based on the results of the medical team's monitoring, the genetically modified pig kidney received by the 62-year-old man functions to produce urine. In addition, the kidneys can remove waste products from the blood, balance body fluids, and carry out other important functions.
"This moment (leaving the hospital) is one I have hoped would happen for years," Slayman said in a statement released by the hospital.
"Now it has become a reality," he continued, quoted by the Straits Times.
While being treated at Massachusetts General Hospital, United States, Slayman received extraordinary care. He thanked his doctors and nurses, including kidney patients who were waiting for organs. "Today marks a new beginning not only for me, but for them as well," Slayman said.
Had Experienced Signs of Organ Rejection
The medical director for kidney transplants at Mass General, Dr. Leonardo Riella, said Slayman showed signs of organ rejection on the 8th day after surgery.
The rejection is a type called mobile rejection. It is the most common form of acute organ rejection.
This condition can occur at any time, especially in the first year after an organ transplant. About 25 percent of organ recipients experience cellular rejection within the first three months.
Dr Riella said this rejection was not unexpected, although Slayman experienced it sooner than usual. However, doctors managed to reverse the rejection with steroids and other drugs used to reduce the immune reaction.
"It was like a roller coaster (during) the first week," Dr Riella said. "Reassuringly, Slayman responded to treatment like a patient who received an organ from a human donor," he continued.
Slayman takes several immunosuppressive drugs and is closely monitored through blood and urine tests three times a week. Doctors also visit him twice a week.
Post this surgery, the doctor did not want to go straight back to work, at the state transportation department, for at least six weeks. Slayman must take precautions to avoid infection due to drugs that suppress his immune system.
"Ultimately, we want patients to get back to doing the things they love, to improve their quality of life. We want to avoid restrictions," he said.
On April 3, Dr. Riella said Slayman was clearly ready to go home. Initially, Slayman was very worried and worried about what would happen.
"But when we met him at 7 o'clock this morning, you could see a big smile on his face and he was making plans," he concluded.