NYU Langone Conducts Successful Heart Xenotransplant Experiments

A team at NYU Langone Health successfully transplanted two genetically engineered pig hearts into recently deceased humans, marking the most recent advances in addressing the worldwide organ shortage and developing a clinical protocol that would provide an alternative supply of organs for people with life-threatening heart disease.

Photo Insert: The transplant surgery took several hours, and the heart function was monitored for three days. The first heart xenotransplant was completed on June 19, 2022, and the second on July 9, 2022.

The xenotransplant procedures were performed at NYU Langone's Tisch Hospital on Thursday, June 16, 2022, and Wednesday, July 6, 2022. The exploratory surgeries were led by Nader Moazami, MD, surgical director of heart transplantation at the NYU Langone Transplant Institute.

"Our goal is to integrate the practices used in a typical, everyday heart transplant, only with a nonhuman organ that will function normally without additional aid from untested devices or medicines," said Dr. Moazami.

The transplant surgery took several hours, and the heart function was monitored for three days. The first heart xenotransplant was completed on June 19, 2022, and the second on July 9, 2022.

There was no evidence of early rejection in either organ, and the hearts functioned regularly with routine post-transplant drugs and without the need for additional mechanical support.

Dr. Moazami's surgeries were part of a wider study approved by a specially designated research oversight board at NYU Langone and were carried out following consultation with the New York State Department of Health. It is the most recent step of a study program that includes further and similar procedures.

Whole-body donation after death for the goal of groundbreaking research is a novel path that permits an individual's selflessness to be realized after brain death declaration in circumstances where their organs or tissues are ineligible for transplant.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic