(Dan Tri) – The doctor who performed the world’s first human pig heart transplant shared the behind-the-scenes story behind this unprecedented surgery.
Doctors performed a pig heart transplant on patient David Bennett in Maryland on January 7 (Photo: Reuters).
Dr. Bartley P. Griffith is a professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA.
`I have been a heart surgeon for 40 years. Since I was a child, I have always loved helping people. Around the time I left high school, the first heart transplant was performed in South Africa,
Griffith said that ever since he was a young surgeon, he was interested in `new` things.
`In Pittsburgh, we perform the most heart transplants in the country and use the newest drugs. Famous surgeon Thomas Starzl came to Pittsburgh, where I was working, and made us feel that,
Griffith said he watched Dr. Starzl perform one of two baboon-to-human liver transplants, so he understood the efforts of transplanting animal organs to the human body.
Dr. Mohiuddin tested a pig heart transplant with 3 gene edits on baboons and one animal lived for up to 3 years.
On November 27, 2021, patient David Bennett was transferred to the cardiac surgery special treatment room at Dr. Griffith’s hospital in a condition requiring a heart-lung support machine.
Without a heart transplant, David would likely die in the hospital.
David met with medical experts and psychologists before performing the pig heart transplant.
However, doctors said they could not transplant a human heart to David.
Patient David Bennett (center) with his son David Bennett Jr.
After David agreed to a heart transplant, the next hurdle was that the doctors had to be licensed because this was an important surgery.
Doctors took another 5 days for the hospital to prepare for the surgery.
On January 7, when the surgery was performed, Griffith was still nervous.
`We were silent for a moment before starting the surgery. It was a moment of reflection on what we were doing and its impact not only on the patient but beyond,` Griffith said.
`I comfortably went forward and made an incision on David’s body, then tried to do the best I could. This surgery was similar to most transplants I’ve done, although the pig heart is small and the heart is small.
The surgery lasted from 8 a.m. to about 5 p.m.
`David woke up the next morning. When I talked to him and said ‘you have a new heart,’ he looked at me and said, ‘Thank you.’ That made me cry,` Griffith recalled.
David’s health condition improved after surgery.
