In 1999, Towana Looney, a resident of Alabama, donated one of her own kidneys to help save her mother’s life. Then Towana waited eight years for an organ transplant that never materialized. Her health was deteriorating. Without receiving a donor match for a transplant, she would die.
When Towana heard about the pig kidney transplant, she decided it was a viable option and was cleared for the procedure.
The Transplant
On November 25, 2024, fifty-year-old Towana Looney received what initially appeared to be a record setting transplant of a genetically modified pig’s kidney.
According to a report by CNN, the experimental procedure generated considerable optimism as there is a chronic shortage of human kidneys. However, although Towana set a record by living with the transplanted organ for four months, her body eventually rejected the organ. The doctors at NYU Langone, where the transplant took place, had to remove the kidney.
The Chronic Shortage
The doctors acknowledged that the transplant was highly experimental, and its failure indicates that successful animal transplants remain a long-term goal. However, the fact that the pig’s kidney filtered blood for 130 days was encouraging.
Towana is again receiving dialysis and once more on the list to receive a human kidney if one should become available.
The hospital reported that the kidney’s rejection is being actively investigated and suggests that it may have been the presence of an infection unrelated to the pig kidney. One aspect of the treatment inhibits the immune system, thereby preventing it from attacking the implanted organ.
However, it also lowers the body’s ability to cope with external infections.
Several other kidney transplants have been recorded but none of the recipients have survived longer than two months. Towana expressed her gratitude for the support and care she received at NYU Langone.
Towana had a rapid recovery after the operation as she was discharged five days after surgery and now back home and doing well.
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