Breakthrough in Transplant Medicine: Successful Pig Liver Transplantation Offers Hope for Liver Failure Patients
Watan-The Chinese newspaper “Global Times” revealed the success of scientists in transplanting a genetically modified pig liver into a brain-dead person, in a procedure mimicking the treatment of a patient suffering from liver failure.
The pig liver was able to function at full capacity within hours of the surgery, in an experiment that is not the first of its kind, as it was previously performed in the United States several weeks ago.
The newspaper states: “The significant success of this surgical experiment proves the necessity of adopting and focusing on the use of pig organs to continue discoveries.”
A pig liver can serve as a temporary support for patients whose own liver is still functioning but needs time to heal.
Integration of the original organ with the transplanted one
According to the Chinese “Global Times” newspaper, a publication from the Chinese Air Force Medical University indicated that researchers conducted an auxiliary transplantation procedure, which involves integrating the original organ with the transplanted one.
However, a pig liver cannot completely replace the human organ. As a result of the procedure, doctors confirmed the flow of blood and bile from the new organ and the absence of rejection signs by the body within 96 hours after the medical intervention.
Around 400 million people suffer from liver diseases in China. Therefore, the success of this experiment will greatly alleviate this problem.
Not the first experiment
The first successful experiments in this regard were in the second half of the twentieth century, where American surgeon “Keith Reemtsma” performed 13 kidney transplants from chimpanzees to humans in the sixties.
Most of them died within four to eight weeks after the surgery. However, one of them lived for nine months and even returned to work for a short period.
In the United States every year, more than 330,000 liver patients require treatment.
Currently, more than 10,000 people are waiting for liver transplantation, out of a total of approximately 103,000 Americans in need of the procedure.
In France, the waiting period before liver transplantation is seven months, according to a research association.
