Can humans survive with a pigs heart?
Transplanting organs from animals to humans
(xenotransplantation, pronounced "zee-no-transplantation") is
rarely performed in real life. However the "theme" of
xenotransplantation seems to be quite prevalent in fictional
novels/tv series which to some extent spreads the public
misconception that it is a common occurrence.
Xenotransplantation is rarely performed, since at a basic level,
it just does not work. The organs do not perform nearly as well as
a human-to-human transplanted organ (referred to as
"allotransplantation", but often shortened to just
"transplantation". "Allo" indicates that the organ is from the same
species as the recipient). Is the vast majority of cases, a
xenograft (the organ used in a xenotransplant) will either fail to
function, or reject within a few days of the operation. This is one
reason why they are extremely rarely used.
The situation in which you may hear of an animal organ being
used is when a patient is absolutely critically ill, and a time-gap
(of around 2 or 3 days) has to be bridged until a suitable human
organ can be found. These cases happen exceedingly rarely; in many
cases skilled transplant surgeons would not even contemplate/ be
given the official clearance to perform this procedure, due to the
problems with medical ethics and sourcing of the suitable animal
organ at short notice. Even in situations with critically-ill
patients, xenotransplantation is an incredibly uncommon
occurrence.
Xenotransplantation is currently never used as a "permanent"
solution - that's what allotransplantation is used for.
To answer your question specifically, with current medical
advances it still would not be a good idea to have a xenotransplant
of a pig heart, since there is a huge risk of it not functioning
properly, or rejecting. For the time being, stick to human
organs.
There is currently research into how to make organs from animals
(mainly pigs and sheep) "humanised" for use in transplantation, so
that the rate of organ rejection is minimised. But this is still
very early research. These organs are nowhere near ready for any
practical use in transplantation. And even if they were of
practical use, the option of an allotransplant would still be
around for a long time subsequently.
For more information, please see related link.