Alabama Woman's Record 130 Days with Pig Kidney Ends with Removal Surgery

Doctors have successfully taken out a pig kidney implanted in Towana Looney, an Alabama resident, after she managed to live with it for an unprecedented 130 days. Following her surgery last week, Looney is now back at home in Gadsden and has resumed dialysis, which is essential for those whose kidneys are failing.

Animal-to-human transplants, commonly referred to as xenotransplantation, involve using organs or tissues from animals to treat various health issues in humans. This experimental method holds potential to greatly expand the available organs for transplantation, particularly during a time when the U.S. faces significant donor organ shortages and disparities in access to those organs. Tragically, around 13 individuals die each day in the U.S. while waiting for transplants, with over 28,000 donated organs going unused annually, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

Looney expressed gratitude for her experience, emphasizing that, despite the transplant not being successful, it provides useful insights that could aid many others battling kidney disease. She extended her thanks to her medical team at NYU Langone Health in New York City for allowing her to be part of this groundbreaking research.

Prior to Looney’s transplant, there were only four other Americans who had received genetically-modified pig organs—two hearts and two kidneys—but all of those transplants lasted less than two months, and the patients were gravely ill before their surgeries. Notably, a New Hampshire man who received a pig kidney in January is reportedly doing well.

Dr. Robert Montgomery, Looney's surgeon, explained that the decision to remove the pig kidney was cautious, noting that her condition post-transplant isn't worse than before and arguably better due to a temporary reprieve from dialysis. He also highlighted the increased infection risks associated with animal organs compared to human ones, along with the uncertainty surrounding the capabilities of animal kidneys compared to their human counterparts, as stated by the National Kidney Foundation.

While probing the cause of the organ rejection, Montgomery revealed that previous infections associated with Looney’s dialysis and changes to her immunosuppressive medication may have contributed to the kidney's failure. Since she had been on dialysis since 2016, Looney’s body was also potentially more primed to reject a human kidney, making her situation more complex.

Montgomery remarked that Looney's experience could provide valuable knowledge for future clinical trials. He stressed that successful xenotransplantation would require incremental progress rather than aiming for a perfect outcome with each attempt.