Current:Home > NewsMonth after pig heart transplant, Maryland man pushing through "tough" physical therapy -Zenith Money Vision
Month after pig heart transplant, Maryland man pushing through "tough" physical therapy
View
Date:2025-04-24 23:05:16
It's been a month since a Maryland man became the second person to receive a transplanted heart from a pig — and hospital video released Friday shows he's working hard to recover.
Lawrence Faucette was dying from heart failure and ineligible for a traditional heart transplant when doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine offered the highly experimental surgery.
In the first glimpse of Faucette provided since the Sept. 20 transplant, hospital video shows physical therapist Chris Wells urging him to push through a pedaling exercise to regain his strength.
"That's going to be tough but I'll work it out," Faucette, 58, replied, breathing heavily but giving a smile.
The Maryland team last year performed the world's first transplant of a heart from a genetically altered pig into another dying man. David Bennett survived just two months before that heart failed, for reasons that aren't completely clear although signs of a pig virus later were found inside the organ. Lessons from that first experiment led to changes before this second try, including better virus testing.
Attempts at animal-to-human organ transplants - called xenotransplants - have failed for decades, as people's immune systems immediately destroyed the foreign tissue. Now scientists are trying again using pigs genetically modified to make their organs more humanlike.
- Pig kidney works in human body for over a month, in latest step forward in animal-human transplants
In Friday's hospital video, Faucette's doctors said the pig heart has shown no sign of rejection.
"His heart is doing everything on its own," said Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, the Maryland team's cardiac xenotransplantation chief.
A hospital spokeswoman said Faucette has been able to stand and physical therapists are helping him gain strength needed to attempt walking.
Many scientists hope xenotransplants one day could compensate for the huge shortage of human organ donations. More than 100,000 people are on the nation's list for a transplant, most awaiting kidneys, and thousands will die waiting.
A handful of scientific teams have tested pig kidneys and hearts in monkeys and in donated human bodies, hoping to learn enough for the Food and Drug Administration to allow formal xenotransplant studies.
- Pig organ transplants inch closer to success as doctors test operation in brain-dead people
- In:
- Transplant
- Organ Transplant
veryGood! (283)
Related
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Comedian Jo Koy is picked to host the Golden Globes as award season kicks off
- Did Travis Kelce Really Give Taylor Swift a Ring for Her Birthday? Here's the Truth
- Here are some ways you can reduce financial stress during the holidays
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Top COVID FAQs of 2023: Staying safe at home, flying tips, shot combos, new variant
- Hardy Lloyd sentenced to federal prison for threatening witnesses and jurors during Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial
- 10 NFL records that could be broken in 2023 season
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- US defense secretary makes unannounced visit to USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier defending Israel
Ranking
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Ukraine lawmakers vote to legalize medical marijuana and help ease stress from the war with Russia
- Tua Tagovailoa, Mike McDaniel sound off on media narratives before Dolphins host Cowboys
- Serbia opposition urges EU to help open international probe into disputed vote after fraud claims
- Average rate on 30
- Could Colorado lose commitment from top offensive lineman? The latest on Jordan Seaton
- From fugitive to shackled prisoner, ‘Fat Leonard’ lands back in US court and could face more charges
- WHO declares new JN.1 COVID strain a variant of interest. Here's what that means.
Recommendation
Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
Pentagon slow to remedy forever chemicals in water around hundreds of military bases
The 'Yellowstone' effect on Montana
Hardy Lloyd sentenced to federal prison for threatening witnesses and jurors during Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial
New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
Mandy Moore talks 'out of my wheelhouse' 'Dr. Death' and being 'unscathed' by pop start
A US neurosurgeon's anguish: His family trapped in Gaza is 'barely staying alive'
Pacific storm dumps heavy rains, unleashes flooding in California coastal cities