would a human die if an animal heart was implanted in them?

Question

Please Respond....

Answer 1

Human may survive for short period with an animal heart implanted on them. The immune systems organ rejection reaction would be the main problem in such situation which will be result to systems failure and will eventually lead to death.

Such thing you are referring to is called xenotransplantation which is the transplantation of cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. Immune rejection remains the biggest challenge for xenotransplantation.

Read this excerpt from wikipedia:
"The first cross-species heart transplant was performed in 1964, in which a 68-year-old man received a chimpanzee heart. He survived only two hours. Several other attempts have been made to transplant primate hearts into humans, with no patients surviving more than twenty-one days."☺

Answer 2

It is too soon to start experimenting with animal-to-human transplants of hearts or lungs because the procedure is still far too risky, an international transplant group said

Although taking organs from farm animals such as pigs offers the possibility of an almost limitless supply, the organs still do not work well in people and there is too big a chance that an unknown virus could pass into the human population, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation said.

"There are two major concerns -- one is, can we get the immunology right, can we get the science right," said Dr. David Cooper, a former transplant surgeon and president of the International Xenotransplantation Association, said in a telephone interview.

"The other major concern is, are we going to do any harm by transferring infectious agents to the patient ... then infect the community."

Several studies have shown that pigs carry viruses known as porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs). People carry their own versions of such viruses, and it is not clear whether they can be passed on from tissue or organ transplants, although they have been shown to pass from one species to another.

An estimated 10 people die every day in the United States alone while waiting for a heart, liver, kidney or other organ.

Cooper said he feared that reports of using pig organs would make people less likely to donate their own or their relative's organs.

"It has got to be made clear to the public that we are not ready for xenotransplants at the present time," he said.

Answer 3

There has been successful transplants of Baboon heart into a little girl, in Africa I think, it was about the same time the artifical heart was being developed so probably about the late 1970's. The joke at the time was the girl lived with the baboon heart but now they can't get her off the chandelier.

Answer 4

I heard of monkey's testicle transplanted on the human but never heard of this questions.I know about the artificial heart.It depends on the genes.Nowadays,the technology advances.People do not need to have an animal heart but an artificial heart implant on their heart.There is a case of Barney Clark who received a heart transplant and died 112days later.As technology advances,those who received artificial heart transplant may lived up to 602 days.

Answer 5

Yes. The genetic make up of animal tissue is so far from human tissue that the body"s immune system would reject it instantly. The transplantation of organs from one human to another is also restricted to there being a close tissue match between donor and patient and even then the recipient needs to take drugs to prevent rejection for the rest of their life.

Answer 6

I think that a baboon heart has been successfully implanted in a human.

Wikipedia: Organ transplanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplant
An organ transplant is the transplantation of a whole or partial organ from one ... heart valves, which are quite common and successful, a baboon-to-human heart ...
Quick Links: Types of Transplants - Autograft - Allograft
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplant - 85k - Cached - More from thi

Answer 7

Yes. Aside from the cross species rejection problems, the animal heart isn;t designed for human needs.

Answer 8

There was a case of a Baboon heart transplant to human. The Baboon died very quickly, and the human only lasted a short while.

Answer 9

I thought there was a success story about a chimp's heart being transplanted into someone. I might be way off, but I thought it was in the news a few years ago. Try Googling chimp heart transplant.

Answer 10

Yes and no...I know they replace parts of human hearts (valves) with pig and cow valves. These people have to be on drugs the rest of their lives to keep the immune system from killing these valves however. I believe they can replace with a pig heart...not often...but it has happened once i think...as with any heart (human or pig or monkey transplants) the person would have to be on immunosuppresent drugs for life to prevent rejection. I believe it's posslbe..but they mainly stick to human hearts...and will replace parts of the heart with animal hearts.