title: Hand Transplantation: Evolution of a Personal Outlook.
abstract: The field of vascularized composite allotransplantation-combining advances in reconstructive surgery, transplantation, and immunology-offers great promise for patients with heretofore unsolvable problems. In the last 30 years, hand transplantation has progressed through the phases of being a research subject, a controversial clinical procedure, a more widely accepted and expanding field, and now a promising endeavor undergoing refined indications. Although many lessons have been learned, few procedures in the author's experience have been as life-transformative in restoring the body image, motor and sensory functions, activities of daily living, and personal autonomy as successful hand transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Electronic address: WPAL@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: W P Andrew
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D005602:France; D063987:Hand Transplantation / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000266:history*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000266:history; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000266:history; D014181:Transplantation Immunology; D014481:United States; D063986:Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends
keywords: Hand transplantation; hand amputation; immune modulation; immunosuppression; vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA)