The program will be restricted to patients who have lost both hands to trauma or illness. Two applicants who have already been screened and are now awaiting donors for the operation. A team of specialists, including social works, psychologists, ethicists and financial counselors along with the physicians, has been assembled to interview and evaluate hand-transplant candidates.
The hand-transplant waiting list will be coordinated through the Gift of Life Donor Program in the Philadelphia region.
Read the Philadelphia Inquirer report on the hand program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Read other coverage on hand surgery:
– Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. William Seitz Gives 3-Year-Old Patient a New Hand
– Hospital for Special Surgery Physician Transplants Tendons Into Patient’s Hand for Regained Motion
– Kerlan-Jobe Hand Surgeon Performs Surgery on Professional Baseball Player
