Jewish Hospital here, the site of the first hand transplant in the United States, is continuing to seek candidates for future transplants.
Surgeons are looking for people who have lost a hand or forearm as a result of trauma or medical interventions that caused permanent injury to the hand or forearm. They are not considering people with congenital anomalies or those who lost a limb as a result of cancer.
The first, and so far only, hand transplant at Jewish Hospital was performed in January on Matthew Scott of Absecon, New Jersey. After a recent checkup in Louisville, doctors said that Mr. Scott continues to show no signs of rejecting the left hand but that Mr. Scott's progress in using the hand "has reached a plateau." In three to six months, physicians plan to reevaluate the possibility of future surgery to loosen tendons to achieve better flexibility and range of motion. Mr. Scott uses the hand for activities including opening doors, driving a car, and playing with his sons.
In June, Mr. Scott began sensing heat and cold in his palm, and nerve growth had reached his wrist. After the January operation, Mr. Scott stayed in Louisville until April, and he has continued to receive hand therapy since returning to New Jersey.
Mr. Scott's surgery represents the third reported hand transplant worldwide. An attempted hand transplant in Ecuador in 1964 failed two weeks after the operation. In September, an Australian man received a new hand in France.
For Your Information:
Hand Tranplant
www.handtransplant.org contains information for hand transplant candidates (www.handtransplant.org/procedure/criteria.shtml) and updates on Mr. Scott's condition (www.handtransplant.org/news_release/080699.shtml and www.handtransplant.org/patient/matthew_scott/update.shtml).
Please be aware that medical advice, diagnoses and physician references cannot be obtained from this site.