Early Outlook Good for Man With New Hand

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A man whose left hand was blown off while playing with a powerful firecracker 13 years ago received the first hand transplant in the United States. Hours later, the new hand was pink and warm.

The 14 1/2-hour surgery, completed Monday, was the second such transplant ever. But doctors cautioned that the patient, Matthew David Scott, 37, had a high risk of blood clots and other complications in the first 24 hours.

There is as much as a 50% chance that the hand will be rejected in the next year, forcing Scott to take powerful anti-rejection drugs that suppress the immune system and increase the risk of infection, cancer and death. Also, scar tissue could develop, snagging the spliced tendons.

“The real battle and unknown starts now,” said Dr. Warren C. Breidenbach, who led the surgical team at Jewish Hospital.

Breidenbach said first signs were good for Scott, who lost his dominant hand in a 1985 blast.

The hospital refused to disclose any information about the donor or how long he had been dead.