Archive · 5 Sep 2026
Pig Kidney Supports Human Patient 271 Days Without Dialysis
Doctors tested whether a pig kidney could help a person whose kidneys were failing.
The patient, Andrews, agreed to the experimental treatment.
The pig kidney worked inside the human body for 271 days.
During that time, Andrews did not need dialysis for about nine months.
Dialysis is a treatment that helps clean the blood when kidneys cannot do so.
Andrews later received a human kidney transplant.
The case was reported in The Lancet.
Andrews hoped the experience would help researchers create treatments for other people with kidney failure.
A patient identified as Andrews received an experimental pig kidney transplant.
The pig kidney functioned inside the patient for 271 days.
Andrews went approximately nine months without needing dialysis.
The case was reported in The Lancet as the longest dialysis-free survival after a pig kidney transplant in a living human.
It was also described as the first reported transition from a pig kidney to a human kidney transplant.
- Who
- A patient identified as Andrews, along with the medical researchers conducting the experimental transplant.
- What
- A pig kidney functioned in a living human for 271 days before the patient transitioned to a human kidney transplant.
- When
- The pig kidney supported the patient for 271 days, or approximately nine months without dialysis.
- Where
- The location of the procedure was not stated.
- Why
- Andrews agreed because he believed kidney failure had left him with little time and wanted the experience to help develop future treatments.
- Patient
- Andrews
- Experimental organ
- Pig kidney
- Kidney function duration
- 271 days
- Time without dialysis
- Approximately nine months
- Reported in
- The Lancet
- Reported significance
- Longest dialysis-free survival following a pig kidney transplant in a living human
- Transplant sequence
- Pig kidney transplant followed by a human kidney transplant