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The 57-year-old Maryland resident opted for the latter and is doing well days after the procedure.
The transplant was performed by surgeons with the University of Maryland School of Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
The patient, David Bennett, is being monitored over the next days and weeks to make sure the transplant continues to be a success.
He was ineligible for a conventional heart transplant at UMMC as well as at several other leading transplant centers after a review of his medical records.
"It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it's a shot in the dark, but it's my last choice," said Bennett, a day before the surgery. "I look forward to getting out of bed after I recover."
The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the surgery on New Year's Eve through its compassionate use provision.
"This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are simply not enough donor human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients," said Bartley P. Griffith, MD, who surgically transplanted the pig heart into the patient.
Griffith serves as the Thomas E. and Alice Marie Hales Distinguished Professor in Transplant Surgery at UMSOM and director of the Cardiac Transplant Program at UMMC.
"We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future."
Click here for more details on the story from UMD Medical Center.
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