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Lisa Pisano, 54, who had been suffering from both heart and end-stage kidney disease, became the first-ever patient to undergo the combination transplant surgery, according to NYU Langone Health, whose doctors performed the procedures.
Pisano was getting sicker and sicker, and her life expectancy was getting shorter and shorter, according to Dr. Robert Montgomery, who chairs the LYU Langone Health surgery department.
Life's simplest tasks like walking around the house, cooking, or cleaning, left her winded, according to Pisano's husband, Todd Pisano.
Doctors performed the surgery in two stages: First with the implantation of the heart pump on April 4, then with the gene-edited pig kidney and thymus gland, which doctors say helps combat rejection on April 12.
Pisano's love of her grandchildren has given her joie de vivre. And now, her transplants, another lease on life.
“All I want is the opportunity to have a better life,” she said. “After I was ruled out for a human transplant, I learned I didn’t have a lot of time left. My doctors thought there may be a chance I could be approved to receive a gene-edited pig kidney, so I discussed it with my family and my husband. He has been by my side throughout this ordeal and wants me to be better.”
Pisano called the surgery "life-changing," and doctors said it would be, too.
“This unique approach is the first time in the world that LVAD surgery has been done on a dialysis patient with a subsequent plan to transplant a kidney," said DR. Nader Moazami, chief of the Division of Heart and Lung Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support for the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. "The measure for success is a chance at a better quality of life and to give Lisa more time to spend with her family.”
To date, there have been no documented instances of anyone with a mechanical heart pump receiving an organ transplant of any kind. It is only the second transplant of a gene-edited pig kidney into a living person, and the first with the thymus combined.
“It is incredible to consider the scientific achievements that have led to our ability to save Lisa’s life, and what we are endeavoring to do as a society for everyone in need of a lifesaving organ,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery, who chairs the LYU Langone Health surgery department, who led the procedure.
Nearly 104,000 people are on the waiting list for a transplant, with 89,360 of those waiting for a kidney. Nearly 808,000 people in the United States have end-stage kidney disease, but only about 27,000 were able to receive a transplant last year.
Click here for background on Lisa Pisano's procedure.
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