A 58-year-old man with heart failure who received a new heart from a genetically modified pig died on Monday, nearly six weeks after receiving the pig organ, University of Maryland Medical Center officials announced on Tuesday.
The first patient, 57-year-old David Bennett, died last year, two months after his transplant.
He had developed multiple complications, and traces of a virus that infects pigs were found in his new heart.
Both of the patients had terminal heart disease when they received the transplanted organs, and neither managed to recover sufficiently to leave the hospital.
But while doctors said that Mr. Bennett did not show any signs of acute rejection of the new heart, which is the most significant risk in organ transplants, they said that Mr. Faucette’s transplanted heart had started to display some initial signs of rejection.
Persons:
Lawrence Faucette, David Bennett, Mr, Bennett, Faucette’s
Organizations:
University of Maryland Medical Center
Locations:
Frederick, Md