According to CNN, on January 10, local time, the University of Maryland School of Medicine said at the press conference that a 57-year-old Maryland man was in good condition three days after receiving a genetically modified pig heart transplant, which is the first time that humans have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into the human body and a successful example.
What is the process of waiting for an organ transplant?
While waiting for an organ transplant, the patient will have a series of psychological reactions.
These patients are generally particularly nervous, and the uncertainty of the arrival of donor organs makes them very worried. And patients waiting for organ transplantation are generally in the advanced stage of the disease, basically have a series of complications, and the disease has a tendency to become more and more serious. While fighting against the disease, the patient does not know whether he can wait for the donor organ, which has a great psychological burden. Every year, there are patients who refuse treatment because of these pressures and simply give up on themselves.
The above is the mental journey of patients waiting for organ transplantation, and it is the psychological epitome of almost all patients waiting for organ transplantation. Because the mainland is a populous country, the situation in this regard is even more severe. Relevant data show that about 300,000 patients in the mainland are waiting for organ transplantation every year, while only 659 cases of organ donation pilots have been piloted for three years. Of the 300,000 patients, only 10,000 were able to complete the transplant.
What are the difficulties of heart transplantation besides the difficulties of waiting for the process?
1. Preoperative diagnosis
Before a heart transplant, a series of tests are done. Lymphocytoxic antibody experiments are done, lymphocyte cross-matching is done, and human leukocyte antigen HLA system receptors are examined between the donor. In addition, the gender of the recipient and donor should be considered on the impact of the heart transplant, and if a female patient is selected as the object of surgery, the donor is preferably a woman. If the provider is male, problems are more likely to occur in the monitoring and prevention of rejection reactions, and the diagnosis should be more careful.
2. Preparation for rejection
The most critical aspect of heart transplantation is the response to rejection, which usually occurs several days/weeks after transplantation. Endocardial myocardial biopsy is best done, which is the most reliable means of detecting myocardial rejection. However, frequent testing can also be a burden on patients, sometimes with serious complications, especially for patients in the early postoperative period. There has been much debate about whether the frequency of inspections should be reduced.
3. Postoperative care
There are also some problems in the postoperative care of patients, with detecting rejection on the one hand and immunosuppressive therapy on the other. Immunosuppressive therapy after a heart transplant is usually with corticosteroids. Not only for induction and maintenance, but also for acute rejection, doses need to be increased. However, long-term use of corticosteroids can produce many adverse reactions, especially leading to osteoporosis in patients, which can seriously induce fractures.
What are the prospects for the future of heart transplantation?
The successful implementation of a swine heart transplant at Maryland University in the United States has brought new hope to the medical community.
Every year, so many patients wait for organ transplants, but only a small percentage wait for donor organs. If we can really get the organs that humans want from animals, it undoubtedly provides many ways out and can save more lives.
In addition, if we can solve the problem of preserving the donor heart by room temperature oxygenated blood perfusion, improve the survival rate of xeno heart transplantation, and make a major breakthrough in artificial heart, it will bring new hope to human heart transplantation.
Family doctor online special article, unauthorized reproduction