Pig-to-baboon heart transplants

Success for pig-to-baboon heart transplants

"A modified protocol has enabled baboons that received transplanted pig hearts to survive for more than six months. This improvement on previous efforts brings pig-to-human heart transplants a step closer."

"the progress made by Längin and colleagues moves clinical heart xenotransplantation nearer to becoming a reality. As such, it is time to reconsider what preclinical results should be required before pig-to-human clinical trials can be initiated. Recommendations outlined by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation in 2000 suggest that clinical trials might be considered once 60% of primates given life-supporting pig-heart transplants can survive for 3 months, with at least 10 animals surviving for this time frame, and with some indication that longer survival is possible. The current study goes some way to meeting these criteria."

"Regardless of the issues surrounding pig-to-human xenotransplantation, the blood-perfusion protocol exploited by Längin and colleagues could have a beneficial impact on human-to-human transplants."