Pig kidney removed from man who set world record with pioneering transplant
By Neal Riley
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BOSTON (WBZ) — Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital have removed a pig kidney from a New Hampshire man 271 days after the innovative transplant.
Tim Andrews was 66 years old and suffering from end-stage renal failure when he received the genetically edited organ on Jan. 25. He holds the world record for longest time living with a pig kidney.
Mass General said Andrews has been experiencing “a period of decreasing kidney function.” He will go back on dialysis and is still on the list to receive a human kidney.
Upon receiving the transplant in January, Andrews said, “I believe this is the start of something that’s going to be fantastic.”
“It’s going to be the option for people that don’t want to be on dialysis, they want to be able to be with their kids and loved ones,” he said.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, there are more than 101,000 Americans on a waiting list for a kidney, but only 17,000 people receive one each year.
“Tim has been a selfless medical pioneer and an inspiration to patients with kidney failure around the world, and we extend to Tim our most heartfelt thanks for trusting the transplant clinical team with his care throughout this journey,” the hospital said in a statement.
Mass General surgeons performed the first successful pig kidney transplant into a living human in March of 2024. That patient, a 62-year-old from Weymouth, died two months later due to health reasons that were unrelated to the transplant, doctors said.
Mass General said it expects to perform a third pig kidney transplant later this year.
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