Organ shortage from the public's donations and availability in many organ banks is something that most people find to be difficult to obtain, and it is because there is no abundance of it from the public. However, there are alternative ways how people would obtain their needed organs for their health, and it is through Xenotransplantation methods. 

A research team from the NYU Langone Transplant Industry thinks that pig heart transplant is effective. 

Pig Heart Transplant, Xenotransplantation Effective?

According to a news release from the NYU Langone Transplant Industry, a pig heart transplant that it did for a man that suffered from an accident and became brain dead, is effective. The man, Lawrence Kelly from Pennsylvania, became brain dead but is still a living person. Instead of pulling the plug on him, his family donated him to NYU Langone Health for medical purposes. 

Here, the researchers and medical professionals focused on using Kelly's body as a subject for Xenotransplantation, as it would still be a living person's body receiving the animal organ. Kelly received a pig heart to replace his original human cardiovascular muscle, and it was successful even while suffering from being brain dead. 

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Xenotransplantation from NYU Langone 

Dr. Robert Montgomery, MD, Ph.D. from the NYU Langone Transplant Industry, said that the researchers would be able to monitor the status and conditions that the bodies are undergoing, better. It is because these people are with them, and the institute added another patient for its xenotransplantation venture for monitoring and experiments. 

Pig Heart's Past Transplants

One of the famous Xenotransplants in the world is with the departed, David Bennet Sr., who got his heart from a pig, and has researchers and medical professionals from the University of Maryland attach it last January. However, after several months, Bennet Sr. died in March and it remains unknown if the patient died because of the pig heart.

The same man, Bennet Sr., got autopsied by different health professionals to investigate the causes of his apparent death. It was initially perceived that the pig heart would go for long in the person's body, as the transplant was a success for the patient. MIT researchers said that they found traces of an animal virus that allegedly may be a result of his death. 

The pig heart transplant is one tricky thing to do, and there is a low number of successful operations that back its effectiveness for all people. 

However, there is a massive shortage of real human organs, and an abundance from animals, especially pigs which people consume on a daily basis. Xenotransplants are the most ideal medical procedures now to give those that need the organs the most, a chance to live and continue on with their lives. 

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Written by Isaiah Richard