BABOON-LIVER RECIPIENT DIES FROM INFECTION

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 6, 1993                   TAG: 9302060055
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH                                LENGTH: Short
BABOON-LIVER RECIPIENT DIES FROM INFECTION
The second person to receive a transplanted baboon liver died Friday after an infection triggered by loose stitching spread throughout his abdominal cavity, doctors at the University of Pittsburgh said.
The 62-year-old man, whose named was not released, never regained full consciousness after the operation Jan. 10.
Dr. John Fung, chief of transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said he believed the infection was caused by a leak of intestinal content into the cavity.
Because the leak occurred at the site where the organ was attached to the new liver, Fung speculated a stitch might have fallen out or have been put in incorrectly.
The patient was suffering from hepatitis B and near death when he received the baboon liver.
Keywords:
FATALITY

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB