Last March, Richard Slayman from Massachusetts became the first living human to receive a pig kidney. But he died two months after receiving the organ with initial reports not suspecting it was due to the body's rejection of the pig organ.
Last week researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital involved in the xenotransplant procedure confirmed Slayman's death was not due to the organ transplant. Instead Slayman died of an unexpected heart problem.
Slayman received a pig organ instead because he was not eligible to receive a human kidney due to his age, history of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. An autopsy found that Slayman's body did not reject the received pig kidney or cause health complications.
Slayman's fate differs from that of David Bennett who became the first human to receive a pig's heart. Bennet died two months after the procedure because the porcine cytomegalovirus virus caused the organ he received to fail to function. The virus escapes the screening done before the transplant is done.