The UCLA Health System has launched the new UCLA Hand Transplantation Program, the first of its kind on the West Coast and only the fourth such center in the United States.

The program will help those who have suffered the traumatic loss of a hand or forearm and allow them to regain function and improve their quality of life. Qualified candidates are now being sought for a clinical study of the procedure.

The first hand transplant was performed in 1998 in France, with the United States following suit the next year. To date, nine patients have received hand transplants in the United States; two of these surgeries were double hand transplants.

One of the lead surgeons on five of these hand transplants, including the first double hand transplant and the first arm transplant, was Dr. Kodi Azari, surgical director of the hand transplantation program and an associate professor in the UCLA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the UCLA Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

“Many patients who have lost one or both hands find that prosthetic devices are not enough to help them get back the life they had enjoyed previously,” said Azari, who came to UCLA in November 2008 from the University of Pittsburgh. “In these cases, hand transplantation can offer a unique opportunity to regain dynamic function and the feel of a real human hand.”

Estimates from the 1996 National Health Interview Survey indicate that one in 400 civilian Americans is missing an upper limb. This does not take into account the number of U.S. military personnel missing hands or forearms due to wartime injuries.

In addition to helping civilian patients who have suffered the loss of a hand, the UCLA transplantation program can also serve military personnel who have been injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new program complements UCLA’s Operation Mend program, which offers facial reconstructive surgery to America’s wounded warriors.

The program is seeking qualified candidates for a clinical trial to confirm that the surgical techniques already established in hand transplantation are successful, to study the return of function in transplanted hands and to study the effectiveness of the anti-rejection drugs that will be necessary to ensure that the grafts are accepted by the recipient’s body.

Eligibility criteria for the hand transplantation study include the following:

•The patient must be between 18 and 60 years of age.

•The amputation must have been at the wrist or at the forearm level.

•The patient must have no serious infections, including hepatitis B or C, or HIV.

•The amputation was not due to a birth defect or cancer.

•The patient is otherwise in good general health.

•The patient will commit to extensive rehabilitation, will adhere to an immunosuppressant medication regimen and will participate in follow ups with the transplant center.

Patients interested in participating will first have to undergo an evaluation to determine if they meet the conditions for participation in the program. The evaluation includes taking a detailed medical history, a physical examination and lab tests, X-ray tests and a psychological examination.

After completing the evaluation, the patient will be placed on a waiting list until a matched hand from a deceased donor is found. After the transplant surgery, the patient will take immunosuppressive medicines for an indefinite amount of time to prevent rejection. Patients will also undergo an intensive rehabilitation regimen to restore function to the transplanted hands.

For more information, visit www.handtransplant.ucla.edu or call (310) 825-1745.