Recipient of world’s first pig kidney transplant discharged from hospital

The world’s first recipient of a transplanted pig kidney has been discharged from hospital — almost three weeks after the operation.

On March 16, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States transplanted a pig’s kidney into 62-year-old Richard Slayman, a living human recipient, for the first time.

The hospital said a genetically edited pig kidney was used for the “successful” surgery which took four hours.

Slayman has been living with type 2 diabetes and hypertension for years.

He was on dialysis for many years before receiving a kidney transplant from a deceased human donor in December 2018.

The kidney began to fail about five years later and Slayman was forced to resume dialysis in May 2023.

In an announcement made on X, the Massachusetts General Hospital said Slayman was recovering well and had been discharged.

“We are happy to share that today, Rick Slayman, our first patient to ever receive a genetically edited pig kidney transplant, has been discharged from the hospital. He is recovering well and will continue to recuperate at home with his family,“ the post reads.

According to the doctors, the 62-year-old said leaving the hospital with one of the cleanest bills of health he has had in a long time is one wish he had for many years.

“Now it’s a reality,” Slayman said.

“The day not only meant a new beginning for him, he said, but also for many other people who were waiting for a kidney transplant,” he was quoted as saying.

The patient was said to have showed signs of rejection on the eighth day after the operation but the immune reaction was contained with medication.

“It was a roller coaster the first week,” the doctors said.