title: Hand transplantation. A future clinical option?
abstract: Transplantation of a vascularized limb or its components is defined as composite tissue allotransplantation, and is one of the newest areas in surgery. To date, 24 hands have been transplanted onto 18 recipients. The initial results have been promising, and hand transplantation may become an important procedure for functional restoration of upper limbs. However, the ethical aspects of using chronic immunosuppression for a condition which is not life threatening have been the subject of debate. In this article, we review the field of composite tissue allotransplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Division of Hand and Microsurgery, National Hospital, NO-0027 Oslo, Norway. hebe.kvernmo@rikshospitalet.no
authors.forename: Hebe D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Kvernmo
authors.forename: Vijay S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Gorantla
authors.forename: Ruben N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Warren C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Breidenbach
mesh_terms: D004992:Ethics, Medical; D063987:Hand Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012092:Replantation; D014181:Transplantation Immunology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents