Reacción a "First pig-to-human lung transplant performed"

In the race between American and Chinese researchers to position themselves in the promising world of xenotransplantation, and following experiments on living and/or brain-dead humans with kidneys, hearts and livers, a group from Guangzhou University (China) has tackled what is probably the most delicate and complex organ when it comes to achieving a successful transplant: the lung.

To do this, they performed a single-lung transplant using an organ from a genetically modified pig on a 39-year-old brain-dead patient, keeping the other lung of the deceased patient alive for a period of nine days with a strong immunosuppression regimen. This is the first known case of a pig xenotransplantation to a human, and the positive findings include no hyperacute rejection or graft-related infection, with the lung apparently maintaining reasonable functionality during the study period. However, oedema was recorded in the first few days, probably due to ischaemia-reperfusion, and signs of rejection in the following days. Given the time constraints of the brain death situation, it was not possible to assess its evolution, apart from the fact that, as the native lung was preserved with good function, the assessment of the functional evolution of the graft is complicated.

All in all, apart from demonstrating that it can be done, this study raises more questions than it answers. It is clear that further research is needed in this area, but the possibility of achieving a good outcome with one of these lungs in a patient, with acceptable survival rates, seems remote and certainly much more complicated than in the case of the kidney or liver.

In short, another small door has been opened in the world of xenotransplantation, but with many more questions than answers.