A 54-year-old New Jersey woman, the second person to receive a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig and who lived with the organ for 47 days, died Sunday, surgeons at NYU Langone Health announced Tuesday.
The patient, Lisa Pisano, was critically ill and had both kidney and heart failure. She received the pig kidney on April 12, just eight days after the implantation of a mechanical heart pump.
Surgeons had to remove the kidney on May 29 after it was damaged by insufficient blood flow related to the heart pump. After the explant, Mrs. Pisano resumed kidney dialysis but was eventually transitioned to hospice care.
Ms. Pisano made medical history as the first person known to have a heart pump who also received an organ transplant. Patients with kidney failure are typically not candidates for a heart pump because of the high risk of death.
Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, said Ms. Pisano had made a major contribution to the emerging field of xenotransplantation, the transplantation of organs from one species to another.
“Lisa’s contributions to medicine, surgery, and xenotransplantation cannot be overstated,” said Dr. Montgomery. “Her courage gave hope to thousands of people living with end-stage kidney failure and heart failure who may soon benefit from an alternative supply of organs.”
The first patient to receive a kidney from a genetically engineered pig was Richard Slayman, 62, who underwent the procedure in March at Mass General Brigham in Boston. Although he was well enough to be discharged two weeks after the operation, he, like Ms. Pisano, suffered from complex medical problems and died within two months.
Although the field of xenotransplantation has made great strides in recent years, the procedures are still experimental. Only patients who are so ill that they are ineligible for a human organ and are at risk of dying without treatment are approved to receive animal organs.
This year’s two transplants of kidneys from genetically modified pigs were approved under the Food and Drug Administration’s compassionate use program (also called expanded access) for patients with life-threatening conditions.
