Heart transplant from a pig - Second patient dies 6 weeks after surgery - US

Recently CNN on-line reported the following:

ブタからの心臓移植、２例目の患者が死亡　術後６週間　米

2023.11.01 Wed posted at 19:45 JST

（ＣＮＮ） 米メリーランド大学医療センターで今年９月、ブタの心臓を遺伝子操作したうえで移植する実験的な手術を受けた男性が、術後６週間で死亡した。

同センターによると、患者のローレンス・フォーセットさん（５８）は最近になって拒絶反応の症状を示し始め、術後６週間で亡くなった。

執刀したメリーランド大学医学部のバートリー・グリフィス博士は声明で「フォーセットさんの最後の望みは、人間からの移植を受けられない人々にも新しい心臓をもらうチャンスが与えられるよう、私たちが経験から学んだことを最大限に生かしてほしいということだった」「周りに集まった医師や看護師たちに、愛していると声を掛けてくれた」と、故人をしのんだ。

フォーセットさんは心不全の症状で９月１４日に入院し、６日後に移植手術を受けた。心疾患と基礎疾患のため、人間からの心臓移植は適応外とされた。

妻のアンさんは当時、「ただもっと一緒に過ごしたい、それ以外に望むことはない。２人で玄関ポーチに座ってコーヒーを飲めるだけでも」と話していた。

移植手術後の経過は順調で、理学療法を受けたり、家族とともに過ごしたりした。医師団は術後１カ月の時点で、心臓が問題なく機能していると確信し、機能を助けるための投薬を中止していた。グリフィス博士は当時、感染症や拒絶反応はみられないと述べていた。

医師らはフォーセットさんの免疫系を抑制して拒絶反応を防ぐため、実験的な抗体治療を試みた。しかし、拒絶反応は人間からの臓器移植でも最大の課題だと、同センターは指摘する。

ブタからの心臓移植手術は２例目。メリーランド大学では２０２２年１月、５７歳の男性が世界初の手術を受けたが、２カ月後に死亡した。死因は複数の要因による心不全とされ、当初検出されなかったブタのウイルスの痕跡も報告された。

Translation

(CNN) A man who underwent an experimental surgery to transplant a genetically engineered pig heart at the University of Maryland Medical Center in September died six weeks after the surgery.

According to the center, the patient Lawrence Fawcett (58), recently began showing symptoms of rejection and died six weeks after the surgery.

Dr. Bartley Griffiths of the University of Maryland School of Medicine who performed the surgery said in a statement: ``Mr. Fawcett's final wish is to use our experience to ensure that those who cannot receive a human transplant are given the chance to receive a new heart. He wanted me to make the most of what I learned," and said "He told the doctors and nurses who gathered around him that he loved them” and to remember the dead.

Fawcett was hospitalized on September 14th with symptoms of heart failure and underwent transplant surgery six days later. Because of his heart disease and underlying health conditions, a human heart transplant was deemed inapplicable.

His wife, Anne, said at the time: ``I do not want anything else; I just want to spend more time with him.  Just two of us to be able to sit at our front porch to have coffee.''

He was doing well after the transplant, undergoing physical therapy and spending time with his family. One month after the surgery, doctors were convinced that his heart was functioning properly and stopped giving medication to help it function. Dr Griffiths said at the time that there was no evidence of infection or rejection.

Doctors tried an experimental antibody treatment to suppress Fawcett's immune system and prevent rejection. However, the same center pointed out that rejection was the biggest challenge even with human organ transplants.

This was the second heart transplant surgery from a pig performed. In January 2022, a 57-year-old man underwent the world's first surgery at the University of Maryland, but died two months later. The cause of death was deemed to be heart failure due to multiple factors, and traces of the pig virus, which had not been detected at first, were also reported.

So, a man who underwent an experimental surgery to transplant a genetically engineered pig heart died six weeks after the surgery. This is the second heart transplant surgery performed from a pig. Obviously, human kind will continue to do experiments until safe transplantation is achieved.