3 ms·

My friend was a member of the transplant team for this. Their explanation was this. His physical condition overall was pretty bad by the time this transplant

My friend was a member of the transplant team for this. Their explanation was this. His physical condition overall was pretty bad by the time this transplant occurred. He was on the edge of multiple organ failure for weeks afterwards. While his heart was pretty strong, his organs in general were compromised, and in poor condition to support each other. I'm not a medical professional. But I have been present and watched multiple people of systemic failures.

petra 4y ago
Given that pig heart transplants are only a candidate for people that are a really bad shape, how does your friend see this field advance after this current result?
- DocTomoe 4y ago
  The idea is that right now, this is only for people in really bad shape, but with advances and experience, this may become a more standard thing for people in less bad shape. You first try the new, experimental drug on people who may die soon anyways, before you hand it out like smarties at the local drugstore.
  - throwaway48292 4y ago
    Still have to get through that stage though with some good results to show for it, even if we suspect healthy bodies would handle it much better (although I wouldn't personally lose faith based on one instance)
    - ceejayoz 4y ago
      Seven weeks with no sign of immune rejection is a good result here, for the very first attempt. It's largely what they would have been hoping for.
hericium 4y ago
Do you maybe know if they just wanted to check if it will work for some time or hoped that failing organs may benefit from new heart?
idealmedtech 4y ago
I'd be very curious to see what the glucose/lactic acid curve looked like during and after the transplant! Usually it's a good leading indicator of broader issues. We've done a few studies in swine (they're the gold standard of blood sugar modelling) and if an animal was not doing well, we'd always see a spike in lactic acid right before death.
pazimzadeh 4y ago
The number of people working on xenotransplantation in the world is very small. My mom (https://tts.org/74-ixa/889-ixa-in-memoriam-agnes-marie-azimzadeh https://tts.org/74-ixa/889-ixa-in-memoriam-agnes-marie-azimz...) was part of the group who conducted basic research in xeno at the University of Maryland and established the collaboration to start testing Revivicor's genetically modified pigs, before her lab (https://www.massgeneral.org/transplant/cts/research/pierson-laboratory https://www.massgeneral.org/transplant/cts/research/pierson-...) moved to Boston a few years ago. The international xenotransplantation community found out about David Bennett's heart transplant through the news, and some people feel as though competition between groups may have contributed to a lack of sharing of clinically relevant information that could have benefited Mr. Bennett.

petra 4y ago

Given that pig heart transplants are only a candidate for people that are a really bad shape, how does your friend see this field advance after this current result?

DocTomoe 4y ago
The idea is that right now, this is only for people in really bad shape, but with advances and experience, this may become a more standard thing for people in less bad shape. You first try the new, experimental drug on people who may die soon anyways, before you hand it out like smarties at the local drugstore.
- throwaway48292 4y ago
  Still have to get through that stage though with some good results to show for it, even if we suspect healthy bodies would handle it much better (although I wouldn't personally lose faith based on one instance)
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    Seven weeks with no sign of immune rejection is a good result here, for the very first attempt. It's largely what they would have been hoping for.

hericium 4y ago

Do you maybe know if they just wanted to check if it will work for some time or hoped that failing organs may benefit from new heart?

idealmedtech 4y ago

I'd be very curious to see what the glucose/lactic acid curve looked like during and after the transplant! Usually it's a good leading indicator of broader issues. We've done a few studies in swine (they're the gold standard of blood sugar modelling) and if an animal was not doing well, we'd always see a spike in lactic acid right before death.

pazimzadeh 4y ago

The number of people working on xenotransplantation in the world is very small. My mom (https://tts.org/74-ixa/889-ixa-in-memoriam-agnes-marie-azimzadeh https://tts.org/74-ixa/889-ixa-in-memoriam-agnes-marie-azimz...) was part of the group who conducted basic research in xeno at the University of Maryland and established the collaboration to start testing Revivicor's genetically modified pigs, before her lab (https://www.massgeneral.org/transplant/cts/research/pierson-laboratory https://www.massgeneral.org/transplant/cts/research/pierson-...) moved to Boston a few years ago. The international xenotransplantation community found out about David Bennett's heart transplant through the news, and some people feel as though competition between groups may have contributed to a lack of sharing of clinically relevant information that could have benefited Mr. Bennett.