Munich (AP) – Munich heart surgeons appreciate the first transplant of a pig heart even after the death of the patient as a great success. Surgeons Bruno Reichart and Paolo Brenner from the Großhadern Clinic at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) explained to the German press on Thursday in Munich that the 57-year-old man had survived for two months given his previous illnesses and, if necessary, two months. Agency. Together with the veterinarian Eckhard Wolf from the LMU Gene Center, Reichart and Brenner are among the world’s leading teams in research with animal donor organs.

57-year-old David Bennett, who was the first patient in the world to have a pig heart implanted as a replacement organ in early January in the United States, died on Tuesday, the University Hospital in Baltimore announced on Wednesday.

The first month is crucial for the rejection reaction, said Reichart. “Anything that goes over four weeks is a success.” The patient’s death was tragic. However, he was already feeling very bad before the operation. “The patient was generally too ill. Even a human heart probably wouldn’t have helped,” said Reichart. Even if the new heart works, other organs probably won’t be able to compensate.

It is now important to investigate the exact cause of death and rule out a rejection reaction, said Brenner. Even after the death of the patient, research continues unabated. In Munich, a treatment attempt on an incurably ill patient, as in the USA, can possibly be tackled in six months to a year. In addition, the Munich team is planning a clinical study with five to six patients. Appropriate approval has already been applied for at the Paul Ehrlich Institute. The study is expected to begin in 2024, Brenner said.

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