Kleinert Kutz Hand Surgeons Perform Fifth U.S. Hand Transplant in Record Time at Jewish Hospital Hand C...( LOUISVILLE Ky. Nov. 25 -- Kleinert K...),Health

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kleinert Kutz and University of Louisville hand surgeons performed the fifth U.S. hand transplant on Messina, New York resident, Jan "Erik" Hondusky, at Louisville's Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center on Monday, November 24. The innovative procedure began around noon and was completed shortly after 9 p.m. in a record nine hours.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081125/DC48555-a)

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081125/DC48555-b)

The recipient is listed in stable condition at Jewish Hospital. Hondusky, a 43-year-old production worker, injured his dominant right hand in a furnace accident on April 12, 2006 when his hand was crushed and burned thus requiring amputation. He has been using a Myoelectric prosthesis to perform daily living activities.

His wife, Raylene, accompanied him to Louisville. Hondusky also has a stepson and a granddaughter.

A partnership of physicians and researchers at Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center, Kleinert Kutz and the University of Louisville developed the pioneering procedure. Warren C. Breidenbach, III, M.D., with Kleinert Kutz and assistant clinical professor of surgery at the University of Louisville led the team of five hand surgeons, 10 hand fellows and a two-member anesthesiology team from Hand Care Center Anesthesia.

Breidenbach and his team are the only surgeons in the U.S. to perform hand transplants with now five hands transplanted on five men. The first was performed on Matt Scott in January 1999, nearly 10 years ago. To date, there have been a total of 40 hands transplanted on 32 patients around the world.

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