First U.S. Hand-Transplant Recipients Marks 5th Anniversary

Five years after doctors performed the first U.S. hand transplant, the recipient is doing well -- but the procedure hailed as an important medical advance is still rarely performed.

Only one more hand transplant has been performed in the United States, and only a total of 25 worldwide on 19 people, in the five years since doctors at Louisville's Jewish Hospital gave Matthew Scott a new hand.

"We've done fewer than I anticipated," conceded Dr. Warren Breidenbach, the surgeon who led the team that performed the transplant for Scott, and a subsequent transplant for Jerry Fisher two years later.

Breidenbach attributes the low number in part to the fact that many insurers won't cover the surgery, and also to some concern over the fact that a hand transplant --like an organ transplant -- requires a lifetime of taking immunosuppressive medication to prevent rejection.

But Scott said that while he has had a few "rejection episodes," in which his transplanted left hand swelled and reddened, "Who would have thought I'd be sitting here in five years with as much success with it as I've had?"

While the hand doesn't function as well as a normal one, Scott said he can pick up coins, open doors and even wrestle with his two young sons.

"When I went into this we didn't know how things were going to work, how long it was going to last and how I was going to adapt to things," Scott said. "I couldn't be happier with the outcome."

"Matt's big contribution was stepping up to the plate to begin with — to be a real pioneer," said Dr. Frederick Bentley, medical director of transplant at Jewish Hospital. "It's been important for pushing the envelope in human transplantation."

So far, only two of the world's hand transplants have ended in failure, despite the considerable attention focused on the world's first hand transplant recipient -- a New Zealand man -- who failed to follow his treatment plan and had the hand amputated in February 2001.

"Not only have our transplants done relatively well compared to what people thought before, but also the experience with the others worldwide has been similar," Bentley said.

Other Sources: Jewish Hospital, Louisville Courier Journal