Transplanted Hand Removed In Surgery In Louisville

A Bowling Green man who had a hand transplant last week has had the hand removed because it was failing.

Dr. Joseph Kutz (KOOTZ) said in a statement Monday that the 67-year-old man’s hand was failing on Sunday and surgeons decided to remove it after consulting with the family.

The Courier-Journal (http://cjky.it/1pJoSvL ) said it’s the second time in the Louisville hand-transplant program’s 15-year history that a new hand has had to be removed.

The hand was transplanted during a 16-hour procedure on Nov. 25. Recipient Jim Ray was the first hand-transplant patient to receive an experimental therapy using a patient’s own fat to stave off rejection.

KentuckyOne Health spokeswoman Barbara Mackovic said doctors don’t know whether the experimental therapy had anything to do with the hand’s failure.