Double Hand Transplant 'Like Science Fiction'

(March 15) -- After a 2008 tractor accident that left him a double amputee, Chris Pollock resigned himself to prosthetic devices in place of his right forearm and both his hands.

Now, thanks to an experimental new anti-rejection procedure that minimizes long-term health risks, he's become the second American to undergo double hand transplant surgery, and the first to receive a new forearm at the same time.

"You know, this is like science fiction," Pollock, a 41-year-old father of two, told Good Morning America.

Pollock lost his limbs after a tractor malfunctioned and his arms were yanked into the machine's rollers. He was airlifted to a hospital and received two prosthetic hands to replace his limbs, which were too mangled to restore with surgery.

That same year, Pollock applied to a groundbreaking transplant program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), where researchers were looking for suitable candidates whose prosthetic devices could be replaced with real limbs.

But the surgery is far from simple: Appropriate hands need to be the right blood type, and also match the skin color, gender and relative size of the body receiving the transplant.

Pollock's procedure, which took place in early February, required 21 doctors and 11 hours of painstaking attachments of bone, tendon, muscle, nerves, veins and arteries.

UPMC was also home to the country's first double hand transplant, which took place just last year. Jeff Kepner, a former pastry chef, emerged from the surgery with two new hands and continues to undergo physical therapy to fully integrate his new body parts.

Pollock will undergo a similar recovery process. He's already moving his fingers and feeding himself, but doctors anticipate a two-year wait before Pollock has full feeling in his limbs.

Hand transplants like Pollock's could soon become more common because of a new anti-rejection regime called the "Pittsburgh Protocol." Rather than a cocktail of three drugs, UPMC doctors use only one, in conjunction with a bone marrow infusion from the hand donor, which "re-educates" the body's immune system.

"The goal of our program has always been to make hand transplants safer as a viable alternative to prosthetics. With each successful surgery, we are closer to that goal," Dr. Andrew Lee, leader of UPMC's transplant team, said in a statement.

Worldwide, more than 32 hand transplants have been performed to date. But until now, the procedures have relied on standard anti-rejection drugs, which suppress the immune system and leave patients vulnerable to infection and illness for the rest of their lives.

And though the UPMC team has made significant strides, their European colleagues continue to lead the way. The first successful double hand transplant was performed a decade ago in France, and German surgeons completed the first double, full-arm transplant in 2008.

Still, Pollock and his fellow UPMC surgery patients will enjoy relatively minimal health risks, which, according to Dr. Lee, is the underlying rationale behind such transplants in the first place.

"We have devoted many years of research to developing [a] protocol that may reduce the risks of the procedure for the long-term health of our patients," he said. "Unlike a solid-organ transplant, which is needed to sustain or prolong life, a hand transplant enhances the quality of life."