First hand transplant operation conducted in Iran

TEHRAN,March 3(MNA) – For the first time a hand transplant has been done successfully in Iran. The operation which started on Wednesday at 5 in the morning at the Panzdah Khordad Hospital in Tehran lasted for eight-and-half hours. The recipient was a 37-year-old man whose hand had been amputated in an accident six years ago. Dr. Masoud Yavari, a member of the surgical team, said re-attaching hands, which have been accidentally cut off, have been done in the country but it is the first time that a hand from a dead donor has been attached to a person’s arm in Iran. He said the transplant has been done successfully and all the arteries, veins, nerves, tendons, muscles and skin of the new hand were attached to the arm, as well as two bones from the forearm. Blood is flowing through the hand and it would take at least two weeks before the patient would be allowed to attempt to move the hand, he explained.