Alabama woman has pig kidney removed after a record 130 days

An Alabama woman living with a pig kidney for a record days had it removed after her body began to reject it Towana Looney from Gadsden Ala returned home following her April surgery at NYU Langone Soundness Looney thanked her doctors for the opportunity to be part of this incredible research WOMAN WHO RECEIVED EXPERIMENTAL PIG KIDNEY TRANSPLANT BACK ON DIALYSIS AFTER NEW ORGAN FAILEDAlthough doctors now have her back on dialysis the experience gave doctors much-needed information on the journey to a key Though the outcome is not what anyone craved I know a lot was learned from my days with a pig kidney and that this can help and inspire several others in their journey to overcoming kidney illness Looney reported The Associated Press Looney has been receiving dialysis since and was abnormally primed to reject a human kidney according to a overview by the AP Since the procedure she has called herself superwoman and has been able to live longer than anyone with a gene-edited pig organ Looney had the organ from her Nov transplant until early April MASSACHUSETTS MAN DIES MONTHS AFTER BECOMING FIRST PERSON TO RECEIVE PRODUCTIVE PIG KIDNEY TRANSPLANTDr Robert Montgomery Looney s surgeon announced the rejection is being investigated He and her doctors decided it would be less risky to remove the pig's kidney than to try saving it We did the safe thing Montgomery stated the AP She s no worse off than she was before the xenotransplant and she would tell you she s better off because she had this month break from dialysis Looney suffered an infection prior and her immune-suppressing anti-rejection drugs were slightly lowered Montgomery mentioned At the same time her immune system was reactivating after the transplant Those factors may have combined to damage the new kidney he explained In May of last year Lisa Pisano the second person to receive a kidney from a gene-edited pig also had to have her kidney removed to resume dialysis More than people are on the U S transplant waiting list the majority who need a kidney and thousands die waiting In hopes of filling the shortage of donated organs several biotech companies are genetically modifying pigs so their organs are more humanlike less likely to be destroyed by people s immune systems