A 58-year-old patient, Lawrence Faucette with terminal heart disease became the second patient in the world to receive a historic transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart.
Faucette received the transplant on September 20, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency approval for the surgery on September 15 through its single patient investigational new drug _compassionate use” pathway.
This is only the second time in the world that a genetically modified pig heart has been transplanted into a living patient.
Both historic surgeries were performed by University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Recall that the first historic surgery, performed in January, 2022, was conducted on David Bennett by University of Maryland Medicine surgeons (comprising UMSOM and UMMC).
According to a statement by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the transplant was the only option available for Faucette who was facing near-certain death from heart failure.
The patient, who lives in Frederick, MD, is a married father of two and a 20-year Navy veteran and most recently worked as a lab technician at the National Institutes of Health before his retirement.
The statement noted that Faucette is currently breathing on his own, and his heart is functioning well without any assistance from supportive devices.
“My only real hope left is to go with the pig heart, the xenotransplant,” said Mr. Faucette during an interview from his hospital room a few days before his surgery. “Dr. Griffith, Dr. Mohiuddin and their entire staff have been incredible, but nobody knows from this point forward. At least now I have hope, and I have a chance.”
“We are once again offering a dying patient a shot at a longer life, and we are incredibly grateful to Mr. Faucette for his bravery and willingness to help advance our knowledge of this field,” said Bartley P. Griffith, MD, who surgically transplanted the pig heart into both the first and second patient at UMMC. Dr. Griffith is the Thomas E. and Alice Marie Hales Distinguished Professor in Transplant Surgery and Clinical Director of the Cardiac Xenotransplantation Program at UMSOM. “We are hopeful that he will get home soon to enjoy more time with his wife and the rest of his loving family.”
Considered one of the world’s foremost experts on xenotransplantation, Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, MD, Professor of Surgery at UMSOM, joined the UMSOM faculty seven years ago and established the Cardiac Xenotransplantation Program. Dr. Mohiuddin serves as the program’s Program/Scientific Director. Dr Mohiuddin co-led this procedure with Dr Griffith.
“We are continuing to pursue the pathway to clinical trials by providing important new data on pre-clinical research that has been requested by the FDA,” said Dr. Mohiuddin. “The FDA used our data from these new studies, as well as our experience with the first patient, to determine that we were ready to attempt a second transplant in an end-stage heart disease patient who had no other treatment options.”
