Revolutionary pig kidney procedure could change the future of transplant surgeries

By Gail Paschall-Brown

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Orlando Florida (WESH) – Human organs for transplantation are rare.

Dr Robert Montgomery of the Langone Transplant Institute at New York University says nearly half of patients waiting for a transplant become too sick or die before receiving one.

That’s why last month this senior surgeon and his team reached a turning point.

“We performed the first successful transplant of a pig kidney to a human,” said Montgomery.

The procedure involved a brain-dead patient whose parents donated her body to science and a genetically modified pig kidney.

He was strapped to the outside of the body and operated for almost two and a half days without rejection.

“What was deep about these findings was that the pig kidney worked just like a human kidney transplant,” Montgomery said.

Dr. Kiran Dhanireddy is Executive Director of the Tampa General Hospital Transplant Institute.

“If we were to be in a situation where there was essentially an unlimited supply of organs, a lot more patients could benefit,” Dhanireddy said.

“I’m predicting we’re a year or two away from a pig to a live human transplant,” Montgomery said.

David Klassen heads the United Network for Organ Sharing, which is the link between organ donor and recipient.

But for him, it’s not just professional, it’s personal.

He says his father was refused a heart transplant in 1974 because he was deemed too old.

His father is deceased, as is a younger brother of a genetic heart disease whose family he says has.

“I had a heart transplant almost three years ago from this procedure,” Montgomery said. “I know what it’s like to wait for an organ that might not come in time. This breakthrough represents new hope that the future will be different for my children and for all those who are waiting for a life-saving organ. No one should die while waiting.

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