Pig-to-human heart transplantation: Surgeons reveal tiny bit of Cocaine was used

In the latest development in the first pig heart transplantation, doctors have used a small proportion of cocaine to successfully implant the genetically engineered pig heart into a human being. Earlier this month, surgeons in Maryland effectively transplanted the pig heart, making it the first of its kind and boosting expectations for the future of xenotransplantation, Sputnik reported. According to media reports, the 57-year-old, David Bennett who received the heart is currently doing well and is healing.  

The breakthrough procedure was conducted at the University of Maryland Medical Center. According to Vice, doctors utilised a solution containing a small amount of cocaine to keep the heart beating before the operation. In case of past unsuccessful surgeries, the donor organs have not survived a transfer from their prior owner to the individual receiving the organ. However, for this time, the Maryland doctors used the fluid, which contained cortisol and adrenaline, to preserve the heart in a functional state for up to 24 hours, enabling for a successful transplant, Independent reported.  

How cocaine is used in the Pig-to-Human heart transplant?

As per the report, Dr Muhammad Mohiuddin, the director of the xenotransplantation at the University of Maryland Medical Center, stated that the pig heart was produced by the Revivicor lab firm, modified in such a way so that its DNA would be more acceptable to a human host. Further, the heart was bolstered with the drug by Swedish medical technology firm XVIVO before arriving in the United States. 

According to Sputnik, the drug's utility has been described by the fact that donor organs are frequently acquired from considerably closer locations as once outside the body, they swiftly decrease in functionality. Thus, the cocaine was blended with ten other hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline, to preserve the live tissue from trying to spoil during the long journey to Maryland. However, this proprietary solution has raised questions with Drug Enforcement Administration officials in the United States, where cocaine had never been utilised in any medical case.  

Despite this, following a lengthy permit application procedure with the anti-drug agency, the cocaine was obtained for usage in the heart transplant. Furthermore, medical researchers are said to be unsure of the mechanics behind the drug's success with hormones, but Mohiuddin was unconcerned about the "why" during the time since the cocaine and hormone mix had excelled the alternatives, Sputnik reported.  

"When we were not using this solution, we were getting failures within 48 hours. But when we started using this and infusing the heart with this solution, the heart became well preserved and started beating very well," Mohiuddin added. He went on to say that the heart transplant has provided life-saving opportunities for thousands of people on national organ transplant waiting lists in the US, which is undergoing an extraordinary organ scarcity problem. 

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