Bartley Griffith, who performed the first pig-to-human heart transplant in history in the past months, talked about why the patient who died two months after the operation may have died. The 73-year-old surgeon stated that the reason for this may be a virus that infects pigs.
Rapid technological developments continue to lead to advances in many areas. It would not be wrong to state that one of them is medicine. In the last months, in the light of these efforts, a very important step has been taken and for the first time in history, a pig’s heart We told you that he was successfully transferred to a 57-year-old person named David Bennet.
It was announced that the patient died two months after this operation, which was performed with the help of a genetically modified pig. Scientists stated that they are continuing their investigations about the death of the patient and that they will share information about the cause. Now, important statements have been made on this subject.
A virus infecting pigs may have contributed to the patient’s death
According to the reports by the New York Times, the cause of death of the American man named David Bennet, who went down in history infecting pigs virus it could be. The surgeon who performed the operation, Dr. Bartley Griffith stated that the presence of a virus called porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV) in the patient may have contributed to the death.
But Griffith has no indication that the virus has developed an infection or that the body has rejected the genetically engineered heart. there is no evidence also added. It was also among the statements that Bennet was very ill before the procedure and suffered from many complications after the transplant. Griffith said that what happened did not frighten them, it was important in the way of learning; that in the future better results noted that it might.
The virus was found in the patient’s DNA after 20 days
The University of Maryland, which carried out the operation, also stated that there was no evidence that the virus caused an infection; however, he stated that the scans can only detect active infections. It was stated that this showed that the virus could have been found in the body of the pig unnoticed and passed to the patient. Griffith also found viral DNA from a heart transplant. 20 days later they have reached; but noted that it is at low levels.
Griffith then on day 40 He stated that Bennet had problems in his health and an increase in viral DNA levels. For this reason, the researcher stated that they focused on the possibility that the virus may have contributed to the events. It was also among the news that the studies on potential causes were continuing.
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Finally, Revivicor, the company that provided the transplanted heart, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which authorized the operation, were reached to comment on the subject; however, no explanation was given.