A grandmother passed away on Sunday, several months after receiving a combined mechanical heart pump and a gene-edited pig kidney transplant, as announced by the hospital that performed the surgeries.
Lisa Pisano, 54, was experiencing heart and kidney failure and was not eligible for a human transplant. She received the heart pump, known as an LVAD, on April 4, and the pig kidney transplant on April 12. On May 29, doctors removed the genetically modified organ because it was disrupting her blood flow.
“Lisa’s contributions to medicine, surgery, and xenotransplantation are immense,” Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, stated on Tuesday. “Her pioneering efforts will be remembered for her bravery and positive spirit.”
Before these surgeries, Pisano was dealing with heart failure and end-stage kidney disease, necessitating regular dialysis.
“I was at my limit,” Pisano told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook in an April interview. “I couldn’t climb stairs, drive, or play with my grandchildren. So, I seized this opportunity.”
Following the surgeries, she told LaPook she felt “great today compared to other days.”
Around 104,000 people in the U.S. are awaiting transplants, with over 80% needing a kidney, according to NYU Langone.
Nationwide, nearly 808,000 people have end-stage kidney disease, but only about 27,000 received transplants last year.
Pisano’s surgery was only the second transplant of a gene-edited pig kidney into a living person.
Previously, surgeons tested pig kidney transplants on brain-dead patients.
In March, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston transplanted a pig kidney into 62-year-old Rick Slayman, who passed away in May. The hospital indicated his death was not related to the transplant.
Montgomery highlighted Pisano’s courage in attempting the genetically modified pig kidney transplant, which offers hope for an alternative organ supply for those awaiting transplants.
“Lisa brought us closer to a future where organ transplants don’t require one person to die for another to live,” he said.
Historically, animal-to-human transplants have faced compatibility issues. “Humans have preformed antibodies that immediately reject pig organs,” Montgomery explained in 2021 after a previous transplant.
The pig kidney Pisano received was genetically engineered to eliminate the gene responsible for producing a sugar called alpha-gal. Removing alpha-gal can prevent the immediate rejection of the transplanted organ, according to NYU Langone.
“By using pigs with a single genetic modification, we can better understand the impact of one key genomic change in making xenotransplantation viable,” Montgomery said earlier this year. “These pigs can be bred without complex cloning, offering a sustainable, scalable solution to the organ shortage. To save more lives quickly, fewer genetic modifications and medications will be essential.”
