Indian Transplant Newsletter Vol. VII Issue NO.: 24 (Oct 2006 - Feb 2007)
Print ISSN 0972 - 1568

Double hand transplant performed

Indian Transplant Newsletter.
Vol. VII Issue NO.: 24 (Oct 2006 - Feb 2007)
Print ISSN 0972 - 1568
Print PDF


A double handshake to Alba Lucia C – the first woman to undergo a double hand transplant. The 10 hour operation was performed at hospital La Fe in Valencia, Spain, on November 30, 2006. Alba, who is ow 47 years old , lost her hands in 1978 in an explosion in a laboratory, while  she was a student of chemistry. Now 28 years down the line, Alba sees herself with the unimaginable - a new pair of hands.  The donor was a younger woman who was declared brain dead after an accident.

Reconstructive specialist Pedro Cavadas, who led the operation, said, “The donor hands were trimmed so the lengths were exactly correct. Then the bones were fixed with screws and we used a microscope and repaired the arteries, veins and nerves. The skin was then sealed off. Alba now had two new hands and forearms two inches above the wrist bone.”  He added that it would be five and six months before she felt any sensation in the transplanted hands, they were much better than any prosthesis and would enable her to lead an independent life.

Alba needs to be on immunosuppressive treatment to prevent her body from rejecting the transplanted limbs.

After the operation, Alba said, “I’m doing very well, I am happy. I am taking steps towards a new world after going through a  totally  different life. When I saw the hands after the operation, they were beautiful.”

 

 

 

 

 

 


To cite : Shroff S, Navin S. Double hand transplant performed. Indian Transplant Newsletter Vol. VII Issue NO.: 24 (Oct 2006 - Feb 2007).
Available at:
https://www.itnnews.co.in/indian-transplant-newsletter/issue24/IN-THE-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-332.htm

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