Date: Mon Mar 19 16:57:38 2001
Posted By: Richard Deem, Staff, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Area of science: Immunology
ID: 976803278.Im
Message:
The first cadaveric hand transplant was done in 1999. Other
transplants have followed this one. Systemic immunosuppressant
(methylprednisolone) is necessary to combat rejection, since there is
no way to deliver a local immunosuppressant on a continuous basis.
The reason for this is because the patient's T-cells (which can cause
allograft rejection) circulate throughout the allograft and will recognize
foreign cells at any point within the transplant. However, topical
immunosuppressants (tacrolimus and clobetasol) are used to
lessen the impact of rejection of the skin of the allograft.
References
- Dubernard, Jean-Michel; Owen, Earl; Herzberg, Guillaume;
Lanzetta, Marco; Martin, Xavier; Kapila, Hari; Dawahra, Marwan;
Hakim, Nadey S. Human hand allograft: report on first 6 months.
The Lancet 353 (9161): 1315-132017 April 1999
- Jones JW. Gruber SA. Barker JH. Breidenbach WC. Successful
hand transplantation. One-year follow-up. Louisville Hand Transplant
Team [see comments]. New England Journal of Medicine
343(7):468-73, 2000 Aug 17.
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