Overview
- The pig kidney was transplanted on January 25, 2025 and began working immediately, letting the 66‑year‑old patient avoid dialysis for a record 271 days.
- About six months after implantation doctors found progressive blood‑vessel damage and inflammation in the graft, and the pig kidney was removed in October 2025.
- The patient returned to dialysis for 82 days and then received a deceased‑donor human kidney in January 2026 that was functioning at follow‑up.
- The donor pig was a Yucatán miniature with extensive genetic edits (reported as 69 changes) to reduce immune recognition and disable porcine viruses, and clinicians detected no porcine pathogen transmission or anti‑pig antibodies.
- Authors and the treating center emphasize this is a single, carefully selected case that suggests xenotransplantation could be a temporary bridge but requires controlled trials, standardized zoonotic surveillance, and studies to explain the unusual vascular injury before wider use.