The second man to receive a heart transplant from a pig died on Monday, almost six weeks after receiving the organ, University of Maryland Medical Center officials announced.
Lawrence Faucette, 58, of Frederick, Maryland, was the second patient at the medical center to have his ailing heart replaced with one from a pig that had been genetically modified to make it more compatible with a human recipient, The New York Times reported.
The first patient, 57-year-old David Bennett, died in March 2022, two months after receiving a similar transplant at the University of Maryland facility.
We are sad to announce the passing of xenotransplant patient Lawrence Faucette who was transplanted with genetically-modified pig heart six weeks ago by @UMmedschool surgeons, only the second patient in world to get one. https://t.co/fiKLPdP8IN pic.twitter.com/A2L3XFyWiM
— debkotz2 (@debkotz2) October 31, 2023
Hospital officials said that Faucette was dying from heart failure and ineligible for a traditional heart transplant, The Associated Press reported. He received his transplant on Sept. 20.
In a news release, hospital officials said that Faucette had made “significant progress,” but in recent days his heart began to show initial signs of rejection.’
“We mourn the loss of Mr. Faucette, a remarkable patient, scientist, Navy veteran, and family man who just wanted a little more time to spend with his loving wife, sons, and family,” Bartley P. Griffith, who surgically transplanted the pig heart into the patient, said in a statement. “Mr. Faucette’s last wish was for us to make the most of what we have learned from our experience, so others may be guaranteed a chance for a new heart when a human organ is unavailable. He then told the team of doctors and nurses who gathered around him that he loved us. We will miss him tremendously.”
Faucette was in end-stage heart failure when he was admitted to the University of Maryland Medical Center on Sept. 14, the Times reported. Shortly before his scheduled surgery, Faucette’s heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated, according to the newspaper.
“My only real hope left is to go with the pig heart, the xenotransplant,” Faucette told the hospital in an interview several days before the surgery, CNN reported.
“We have no expectations other than hoping for more time together,” the patient’s wife, Ann Faucette, said at the time. “That could be as simple as sitting on the front porch and having coffee together.”
After his death, Ann Faucette said that her husband was a “kind and selfless man” who hoped that what was learned from his transplant would help future recipients, the Times reported.
“Larry started this journey with an open mind and complete confidence in Dr. Griffith and his staff,” Ann Faucette said in a statement. “He knew his time with us was short, and this was his last chance to do for others.”
