PITTSBURGH -- Surgeons at the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have transplanted a right hand onto a former Marine who lost his original hand in a training accident.
Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee said Thursday that his team performed the surgery on March 14 and 15. Since then, the patient -- Josh Maloney, of Bethel Park -- has had some movement in his fingers.
The surgery is the first of its kind at the Pittsburgh hospital network, and only the sixth in U.S. history. The other five have occurred at Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Center of Louisville, Ky.
The patient will soon undergo a bone marrow infusion designed to reduce the need for traditional anti-rejection drugs.
The drugs have side effects including diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders.
Funding for the hand transplant study is supplied through UPMC and the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
Copyright 2009 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
