A 54-year old German farmer received the
world’s first complete double arm transplant at the Munich University Clinic on
July 25 to 26. A team of 40 surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other
surgery supporting staff spent 15 hours grafting the donor arms on to the body
of Karl Merk. The arms came from a teenager, who had died in a car accident
only hours before the surgery.
Both the donor’s arms were removed exactly
at the point matching the patient’s stumps. First the bones were jointed, then
arteries and veins to ensure blood circulation as quickly as possible. The surgeons
then attached the muscles, tendons, nerves and skin. There was some concern
that the patient’s immune system might reject the new body parts, but the
doctors said there had been “no sing” that Merk’s body rejected the tissue.
Karl Merk said Wednesday he had been
recovering well after the 15-hour procedure.
“Never before was such a large amount of
foreign tissue transplanted to a person,” the transplant team said in a statement
on the surgery that was conducted over two days in July.
It would take up to two years for him to
relearn how to use the arms. While the process of healing continues, he must
wear a special corset to prevent degeneration of his muscles until complete
recovery. Merck said his ultimate goal is to use his new hands to eat and dress
himself and possible ride a motorcycle.
Six years ago, the man lost his arms in a
farming accident involving a combine. He was found by a colleague screaming “Kill
me!” But the man saved his life. Discouraged after two attempts to attach prostheses
failed, the man said he heard about advances in transplant science on
television and sought advice at the university’s Rechts der Isar Clinic. He was
chosen for a clinical trial which involved a complete, double arm transplant.
Merk said he at first could not believe
that the transplant appeared to have been successful. “These are my arms, and I’m
not giving them away again,” said the German farmer whose life has been
transformed after the double arm transplant surgery.
Karl Merk talked about the success of the procedure,
calling the feeling of being whole again “indescribable.” “It was really
overwhelming when I saw that I had arms again,” he said. “Everyday I gain more
mobility.”
Merk is recovering well and can perform
simple tasks such as opening doors and turning lights on and off. He will remain
nearly three months at the Munich University Clinic. He will have to continue
an intensive program of physiotherapy, electric stimulation and psychological counselling
for a period of two years.
Christoph Hoehnke, the head of the
transplant team, said he was very optimistic about his patient’s further
prognosis.
The first arm transplant was carried out in
Austria
in 2003 when a man received transplanted forearms and hands.
