Limb transplant patient ‘finally safe’ doctors say

ANTALYA - Anatolia News Agency

Doctors who operated Kavdır say they gave nearly 200 units of blood to the patient after the operation since his condition was critical. ‘Kavdır was experiencing problems with his kidney, liver and lungs. We almost thought we lost him,’ doctor Ramazanoğlu (2nd R) said.

Doctors yesterday discharged Turkey’s first three-limb transplant patient from intensive care, indicating that he was now in “good and stable” condition.

Patient Atilla Kavdır received two arms and a leg in a surgical operation Jan. 21, but his body rejected the leg a day later. Doctors had performed the surgery, the world’s first known triple-limb transplant, in the southern province of Antalya in tandem with Turkey’s first face transplant surgery.

Kavdır’s body accepted the two new arms, however rejected the leg.

Atilla Ramazanoğlu, one of the 25 doctors who participated in the operation, said Kavdır’s nails
had grown and that he would begin to feel his arms in six months. The patient had had a close call, as doctors had to transfuse 200 units of blood to save his life, Ramazanoğlu added.

 “Kavdır was experiencing problems with his kidney, liver and lungs. The danger of [contracting an] infection was important after the surgery. He suffered from blood pressure problems as well. We almost thought we lost him,” Ramazanoğlu said.

Moving arms

Özlenen Özkan, one of the senior surgeons who performed Kavdır’s surgery, said the patient had already started doing simple arm movements. When Kavdır begins to feel his arms in six months, he will also be able begin using his arms and hands effectively, he added.

Dr. Murat Yılmaz, who was in charge of Kavdır’s health during his stay in intensive care, said the patient had undergone multiple organ failure and coagulopathy (blood clotting) during the first 72 hours.

Meanwhile, Kavdır’s mother said she wept for joy after seeing his son with arms again after 23 years.
The doctors transplanted donor Ahmet Kaya’s arms to Kavdır, who had lost his limbs when he electrocuted himself by hitting a power line with an iron rod he was using to scare away pigeons outside his home at the age of 11.