Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, predicted the organ would last two years, but guaranteed there was no evidence the transplant caused death.
After the intervention, the doctors confirmed that the organ was working well and hemodialysis was no longer required. Richard Slayman, 62, suffered from end-stage kidney disease and type 2 diabetes.
In 2018, he received a human kidney transplant, but in 2023, the organ began to fail. “Mr. Slayman will always be remembered as a beacon of hope for countless transplant patients,” the hospital said, adding that “thanks to his faith and will. Advances in the field of xenotransplantation [transplantes entre espécies diferentes]”.
The family thanked the doctors: “They gave us seven more weeks with Rick and these memories will stay in our hearts.”
Both pig heart transplant patients died within two months.
About 1900 people are waiting for a kidney transplant in Portugal.