Successful Hand Transplantation — One-Year Follow-up

In 1996, the Louisville Hand Transplant Team was formed to examine the possibility of performing a human hand transplantation. One of our first goals was to develop procedures for the transplantation of allografts of extremities in large animals. 1 , 2 In contrast to prior studies of hand transplantation in primates, in which very high doses of cyclosporine and prednisone did not prevent rejection episodes and had many adverse effects, 3 – 5 we found that in pigs that received extremity transplants, rejection could be delayed with a regimen of cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone or a regimen of tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone. . . .