WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — A New Jersey woman who received a pig kidney transplant and an implanted device to keep her heart beating has died, her surgeon announced Tuesday.

Lisa Pisano's combination of heart and kidney failure left her too ill to qualify for a traditional transplant.

Doctors at NYU Langone Health performed the pair of surgeries in April.

Pisano initially seemed to be recovering well but about 47 days later, doctors had to remove the pig kidney and put her back on dialysis after the organ was damaged by her heart medications.

Despite the dialysis and implanted heart pump, Pisano eventually entered hospice care and died Sunday, NYU Langone transplant surgeon Dr. Robert Montgomery said in a statement.

Montgomery praised Pisano’s bravery for attempting the latest pig organ-to-human experiment, what’s called xenotransplantation. The research aims to one day support the dire shortage of transplantable organs.

Pisano was the second patient ever to receive a kidney from a gene-edited pig.

The first, Richard “Rick” Slayman, received his transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital and died in early May, nearly two months later. His doctor has said he died of preexisting heart disease, not as a result of the transplant.

Follow NEWSnet on Facebook and X platform to get our headlines in your social feeds.

Copyright 2024 NEWSnet and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.