Report about a DOUBLE hand transplant!

**Martijn (admin)** Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:58 pm

On august 24 Richard Edwards became the third person in the United States to receive a double hand transplant. Doctors at the Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center were able to salvage most of the nerves and tendons in Richard Edwards' hands. They left his original hands intact and connected nerves to restore their function.

And... last week a report explained that Edwards can now make a full fist with one hand and a half-fist with the other. His doctors say his progress is a good sign and that Edwards is six months ahead of where they suspected he would be.

More about the surgery (1st source) and the update about Edwards condition (2nd source):
• http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/25/hospital-tweets-updates-on-double-hand-transplant/
• http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/03/latest-hand-transplant-patient-shows-progress/

And... you can read more about other 'bionic' prosthetic hand developments in:
From the Star Wars 'bionic hand' to Time's 2008 best inventions!

Report about a DOUBLE hand transplant! Biga_proth_fluid_530

Report about a DOUBLE hand transplant! Biga_proth_fluid_530

**Martijn (admin)** Sun Nov 14, 2010 11:22 am

Report about a DOUBLE hand transplant! RMg4d2EfnNAJ

Health Beat: Soldier receives hand transplant

(Nov 11, 2010) According to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, hand transplant surgeries were put into practice in 1998. The first patient was a man in New Zealand, and his surgery failed due to chronic rejection. The negative reaction was because the patient did not take the proper immune suppression medication.

The first successful case was reported in November of 2000, and involved a 38-year-old medical technician who experienced improved coordination and sensation. However, he continued to have problems with immune suppression.

In September of 2010, the Star Tribune reported that only 60 hand transplants have been performed around the world, and there are only three clinics offering the procedure in the U.S.

The Mayo Clinic will soon become the first medical center in the U.S. to offer the procedure as a non-experimental procedure, which will combine the facility's established expertise in both hand surgery/reconstruction and transplant medicine. Instead of reattaching a damaged hand, the surgeons are actively recruiting families with deceased loved ones to accumulate a sizable quantity of hands.

Hand transplant surgery is a complicated and risky surgery. According to the Brigham Women's Hospital Hand Transplant Patient Guide, the body's immune system sees the newly attached organ as a germ-like invader and immediately attempts to destroy it.

There are immune suppression medications that can slow and eventually stop this process by partially shutting the immune system down. However, the medications must be rigorously maintained for the rest of the patient's life, which can be tough, considering the many known side effects that come from immune suppression.

Even if the medication is maintained properly, rejection is another serious risk. If this occurs, only traditional hand surgery or another transplant are the patient's only alternatives.

The number of successful hand transplant surgeries still remains low, but their outcomes are very appealing to some.

Report about a DOUBLE hand transplant!

Report about a DOUBLE hand transplant!

Re: Report about a DOUBLE hand transplant!