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The man who is the world's first recipient of a transplanted baboon liver was reported 'doing well' in a Pittsburgh hospital on Jun 30, 1992. The report came as animal-rights activists protested outside the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

According to findings reported in the Jul 1, 1992 American Journal of Public Health, researchers have found that chlorinated drinking water has been linked to small increases in the rates of rectal and bladder cancer. The findings are detailed

PITTSBURGH - A man who became the first human to receive a baboon liver in a transplant operation was awake and doing as well as any recipient of a human liver the day after surgery, doctors said Monday. The transplant recipient was dying from recurring infections of the hepatitis B virus, which attacks the liver. He wasn't a candidate for a human liver because the virus probably would have damaged a transplanted human liver. Researchers on the transplant team did hundreds of animal experiments before doing the first baboon-to-human liver transplant to make sure that they would not be transplanting a disease, [Thomas Starzl] said. The idea was to avoid creating 'a metabolic incompatability in which baboon proteins are not liked by the human body.'

A 35-year-old man who became the first human to receive a baboon liver in a transplant operation was reported Monday to be doing as well as any recipient of a human liver a day after surgery. The baboon liver was about the size of a 13-year-old boy's liver. But with time it is expected to grow to meet the man's needs. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is paying the bill for the first patient, who was dying from hepatitis B, a viral infection. The average human liver transplant costs $275,000 here. An animal rights group said it will picket the hospital today to protest the use of animals as organ donors. Surgeons hope baboon organs will help ease a shortage of human donors

The transplantation of a baboon liver into a human patient on Jun 29, 1992 is discussed. Researchers on the University of Pittsburgh transplant team that performed the operation did hundreds of animal experiments before doing the first baboon-to-human liver transplant

A 35-year-old man who became the first human to receive a baboon liver in a transplant operation was reported Monday to be doing as well as any recipient of a human liver a day after surgery. So far the same laboratory tests that are used to monitor the recipient of a human liver show that the baboon liver is functioning as well as a human one, [Thomas E. Starzl] said. Researchers on the transplant team did hundreds of animal experiments before doing the first baboon-to-human liver transplant to make sure that they would not be transplanting a disease, Starzl said. The idea was to avoid creating 'a metabolic incompatability in which baboon proteins are not liked by the human body.'

The recipient was a 35-year-old man dying from hepatitis B, a virus that had destroyed his liver. He was ineligible to receive a donated human organ because the virus can destroy transplanted human organs. Doctors think baboon livers might not be susceptible. On Friday, a committee that evaluates the ethics of human experiments at the university gave permission to a team headed by the liver transplant pioneer, Dr. Thomas Starzl, to perform as many as four permanent baboon-liver transplants in humans. While it is the first time that a baboon liver is being given to a human, other baboon organs have been transplanted to humans in at least 33 operations since 1905. So far, none have been successful

Surgeons from the University of Pittsburgh on Jun 28, 1992 implanted a baboon's liver in a man who was dying from hepatitis B. The man's name was not released because of his desire for confidentiality. Other baboon organs that have been transplanted to humans have not been successful

Friday a committee that evaluates the ethics of human experiments at the university gave permission to a team headed by liver transplant pioneer Dr. Thomas E. Starzl to perform up to four permanent baboon-liver transplants in humans. One of the drugs, known as FK-506, is new and may help this operation succeed where all other animal-to-human transplants have failed. Since the hepatitis B virus reinfects transplanted human livers, hospitals have excluded these patients from the long list of would-be liver recipients, but the baboon liver is thought not to be susceptible to the virus. If the new combination of drugs allows successful baboon liver transplants, surgeons would go on to try it for other organs so that baboons could be raised for a dependable, ready supply of organs for humans. The baboon is not an endangered species and can be bred safely and easily in captivity. The baboon sacrificed Sunday was born in the United States

Because the hepatitis B virus can infect transplanted human livers, hospitals have excluded these patients from the long queue of would-be liver recipients, but it is believed that the baboon liver is not susceptible to the virus. A university committee that evaluates the ethics of human experiments gave permission Friday to a team headed by the liver transplant pioneer, Dr. Thomas Starzl, to perform up to four permanent baboon-liver transplants in humans. Starzl performed the world's first human liver transplant in 1963 and the first successful liver transplant in 1967, both at the University of Colorado in Denver. Since then, more than 10,000 human liver transplants have been performed