Thursday, February 13, 1964: Hand transplant

     A surgical "first" at this time of hope was carried out in February 1964 at the Clinica Guayaquil, Ecuador, on a soldier who lost a hand after a grenade accident. The prolonged operation using a hand from a cadaveric donor was apparently technically successful, and the immunosuppression was monitored with the help of advice via telephone from Richard Wilson of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. Wilson then traveled to Ecuador and, after assessing the situation, transferred the patient to Boston, but twenty-one days after the transplant, rejection forced removal of the hand.

     -- From "A History of Organ Transplantation" (David Hamilton, 2012)

* "First Transplant of Human Limb Works" (United Press International, February 25, 1964): @

* "Dr. Wilson Consults on History-Making Homograft" (The Townsman, Wellesley, Massachusetts, February 27): @

* "A new option for amputees: Transplantation of the hand" (Christina L. Kaufman et al; from Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 2009): @

* "History and Ethics of Hand Transplants" (Michael Errico et al; from Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, October 2012): @

* "Hand transplantation" (Bardia Amirlak et al; from Medscape): @

* www.handtransplant.com: @

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