18 Days After Path-Breaking Surgery, Pig Kidney Transplant Patient Discharged From Hospital

Washington: Two-and-a-half weeks after becoming the world’s first successful recipient of pig-to-human kidney transplant, Rick Slayman has been discharged from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the USA.

The news was shared via a press release on Wednesday by MGH, Harvard Medical School’s largest teaching hospital in Boston.

Attempts to transplant organs from genetically modified pigs were tried earlier but failed every time.

Hence, the success of this procedure on 62-year-old Slayman has been hailed as a significant milestone in the field of transplantation by scientists worldwide.

The hospital said the new kidney of Slayman, who had been battling end-stage kidney disease, is now functioning well and he no longer requires dialysis post the four-hour surgery on March 16.

Slayman said being able to leave hospital and go home was “:one of the happiest moments” of his life.

“I’m excited to resume spending time with my family, friends, and loved ones free from the burden of dialysis that has affected my quality of life for many years,” said Slayman who had a human kidney transplant from a deceased donor in 2018, which started failing last year.