title: Favoring the risk-benefit balance for upper extremity transplantation--the Pittsburgh Protocol.
abstract: Upper extremity transplantation is an innovative reconstructive strategy with potential of immediate clinical application and the most near-term pay-off for select amputees, allowing reintegration into employment and society. Routine applicability and widespread impact of such strategies for the upper extremity amputees with devastating limb loss could be enabled by implementation of cellular therapies that integrate and unify the concepts of transplant tolerance induction with those of reconstructive transplantation. Such therapies offer the promise of minimizing the risks, maximizing the benefits and optimizing outcomes of these innovative procedures.
authors: Pittsburgh Reconstructive Transplantation Program, Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, 3550 Terrace Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. gorantlavs@upmc.edu
authors: Vijay S
authors: VS
authors: Gorantla
authors: Gerald
authors: G
authors: Brandacher
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Schneeberger
authors: Xin Xiao
authors: XX
authors: Zheng
authors: Albert D
authors: AD
authors: Donnenberg
authors: Joseph E
authors: JE
authors: Losee
authors: W P Andrew
authors: WP
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000673:Amputation, Traumatic / Q000601:surgery*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D046528:Chimerism; D063987:Hand Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014181:Transplantation Immunology; D023001:Transplantation Tolerance; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents