Mystery surrounds death of first pig-heart transplant patient
The US surgeon who performed the transplant says porcine cytomegalovirus may have contributed to his death, but it is still not known
Surgeons say they “don’t know” why the first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig died two months after the groundbreaking procedure.
The University of Maryland team have discovered the organ harboured porcine cytomegalovirus, but cannot yet say if it played any role in the man’s death.
The patient 57-year-old David Bennett died in March.
The surgeon who performed the transplant, Dr Bartley Griffith, said while very ill Mr Bennett had been recovering fairly well from the transplant when one morning he woke up worse, with symptoms similar to an infection.
