UK resident Michelle Morgan-Granger is one of the first patients to undergo groundbreaking surgery using bovine or bovine heart tissue to heal and repair the liver. The performed operation made it possible to bring closer the moment when it would be possible to widely use the organs of animals during xenotransplantation.
Michelle, 42, was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in 2010. Initially, doctors reported that they were powerless to solve the problem.
But two months later, the patient underwent a procedure during which a tumor in her liver was removed along with a large part of the inferior vena cava, the function of which is to return blood from the person's lower body back to the heart. It was this part that was subsequently restored with the help of the bovine pericardium - part of the outer liner of a bovine or bovine heart.
The bovine pericardium was used in some heart surgeries, but it was used for the sixth time to restore the liver.
Unlike synthetic materials, this bovine heart material reduces the risk of infection and blood clots. In addition, its use relieves patients from the need for long-term use of blood thinners, which have side effects. To reduce the risk of infection to zero, the bovine pericardium undergoes a number of treatments, including chemical ones.