Ethical Thought in Cardiac Xenotransplantation / 中国医学伦理学

ABSTRACT

The shortage of human hearts has brought the current research focus on finding an animal source as substitute hearts.The immunological barriers to cardiac xenotransplantation are now more clearly defined,allowing retrospective interpretation of past clinical experience in humans.Due to physiological compatibilities as well as ethical and infectious considerations,pigs have now emerged as the most likely source of future xenografts.With the introduction of transgenic pigs expressing human complement regulatory proteins and new immunosuppressive strategies have shown early promise in the laboratory,cardiac xenotransplantation has been the social focus.This article explores ethical issues that surround developments in this field.