Hand Transplant Attempted

A New Jersey man on Monday became the first person in the country to receive a hand transplant.

Matthew David Scott, of Absecon, N.J., lost his left hand in 1985 in a fireworks accident. He had been using a prosthesis ever since.

Dr. Warren C. Breidenbach led the surgical team in the 15-hour operation at Louisville Jewish Hospital. Doctors won't know for some time if the transplant is successful.

There is at least an 80 percent chance in the first 24 hours that a blood clot could form and cause complications. The odds decline rapidly to as little as 5 percent if Scott can make it to the third day. "The critical period is the first few days," said Dr. Breidenbach.

The New Jersey man is only the third in the world to have a hand transplanted from another person. For years surgeons have been able to reattach severed limbs following accidents, but they had never been able to successfully transfer a limb from a dead donor to a living recipient.

The first attempt at a hand transplant was made overseas in the 1960s, but the patient's body rejected the limb after two weeks. Last September in France, an international team of doctors successfully transplanted a hand to a 48-year-old New Zealand man in a 13-hour operation.

The University of Louisville School of Medicine Human Studies Committee and Jewish Hospital Institutional Review Board gave the go-ahead for the surgery in 1998 after researching the ethics and practicality of the matter for more than three years.

Some surgeons and ethicists have raised questions about the risks of transplanting non-vital organs such as a hand. Recipients of any transplant must take powerful anti-rejection drugs meant to keep the body from trying to destroy the foreign tissue. The drugs increase the risk for the patient of infection, cancer, and death.

Asked why someone who had been using an artificial hand for 13 years would opt for a risky and experimental proceedure, Scott said he had not been happy with his prosthesis and was willing to take the risk.

He will spend several days in the hospital as doctors watch for rejection and other complications. If all goes well Scott will begin physical therapy within a week, starting the long road to recovery and the use of his new hand.