Grandma Who Got Pig Kidney Transplant And Mechanical Heart Dies

Three months after the ground-breaking two procedures—a combination pig kidney and mechanical heart pump transplant—a grandma who was the first to get the treatment passed away.

After undergoing both procedures in April with success and seeming to be on the mend, the grandma, Lisa Pisano’s condition deteriorated, and on Sunday, July 7, her surgeon declared her dead.

47 days after the surgeries, the pig kidney had to be removed by the doctors since the organ was destroyed by her cardiac medication.

According to Dr. Robert Montgomery, a transplant surgeon at NYU Langone, Pisano was placed back on dialysis and kept using the heart pump before ultimately entering hospice care on Tuesday, July 9.

“Lisa helped bring us closer to realizing a future where someone does not have to die for another person to live,” said Montgomery. “She will forever be remembered for her courage and good nature.”

When Pisano of New Jersey received the gene-edited pig kidney and heart pump in a New York hospital, she was suffering from end-stage kidney disease and heart failure.

“All I want is the opportunity to have a better life,” she said at the time.

“My doctors thought there may be a chance I could be approved to receive a gene-edited pig kidney, so I discussed it with my family and my husband. He has been by my side throughout this ordeal and wants me to be better.”

Due to her numerous chronic health issues and the lack of human organ donors, Pisano was not a strong candidate for a kidney or heart transplant.

Pisano, 54, said in April that she “just took a chance” even though she was aware that the pig kidney would not function.

In April, Pisano, 54, said she knew the pig kidney may not work but that she “just took a chance”.

After Richard Slayman, who received the kidney at Massachusetts General Hospital in March, Pisano is the second person in history to get an organ from a gene-edited pig.

According to his doctor, Slayman’s previous cardiac condition took his life in early May, over two months after his operation; the transplant was not the cause of his death.

The goal of both procedures was to discover a practical substitute for human organs given the severe scarcity.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli