World’s second pig heart transplant recipient dies 6 weeks after surgery

As more than 100,000 Americans await crucial organ transplants with a huge shortage of organ donations, doctors and scientists continue to hope that one day animal-to-human transplants can help close the gap. But doctors are still learning after the second person to receive a genetically modified pig heart died six weeks after the experimental surgery.

“I have been rejected by every human transplant institute on the East Coast; we are now down to my only real hope left is to go with the pig heart.”

Lawrence Faucette

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Lawrence Faucette, the 58-year-old patient with terminal heart disease who received the world’s second genetically-modified pig heart transplant,” a release from the University of Maryland Medical Center read.

University of Maryland School of Medicine announced on Tuesday, Oct. 31, that Faucette, a Navy veteran, died on Monday, Oct. 30.

Faucette was dying from heart failure and needed a transplant; other health problems deemed him ineligible for a traditional transplant. Faucette was out of options and wanted to spend more time with his family.

“I have been rejected by every human transplant institute on the East Coast; we are now down to my only real hope left is to go with the pig heart,” Faucette said ahead of the surgery.

According to doctors, Faucette received a genetically modified pig heart on Sept. 20, and the transplanted heart seemed healthy for the first month before showing signs of rejection in recent days.

In 2022, the same Maryland team performed the world’s first transplant of a genetically modified pig’s heart into a human. David Bennett, the first recipient, survived for two months after the surgery before the heart failed for reasons that are not yet clear, though doctors said they later found signs of a pig virus in the heart.

Dr. Bartley Griffith provides patient insights after historic first successful transplant of porcine heart into adult human. https://t.co/h2GsyFC4t2 #pigheart #xenotransplant pic.twitter.com/TLBS7kyZfM

— University of Maryland School of Medicine (@UMmedschool) January 11, 2022

“As with the first patient, David Bennett, Sr., we intend to conduct an extensive analysis to identify factors that can be prevented in future transplants; this will allow us to continue to move forward and educate our colleagues in the field on our experience,” Dr. Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, MD said.

Faucette’s family and his doctors said his hope was that his experience could help medical experts perfect xenotransplants, in turn saving someone’s life down the road.

The practice of animal-to-human transplants is called xenotransplants. While most have failed over the decades-long practice, scientists and doctors hope that as we learn more and technology advances, xenotransplants can save thousands of lives.

“Mr. Faucette’s last wish was for us to make the most of what we have learned from our experience, so others may be guaranteed a chance for a new heart when a human organ is unavailable,” Dr. Bartley P. Griffith, MD said. “He then told the team of doctors and nurses who gathered around him that he loved us. We will miss him tremendously.”