It is not well known that hands can be transplanted, nor is the possibility included in the donor registry. Doctors may only ask relatives for the hands of their loved one if they have given permission for donation of all other organs.
If the next of kin agree, the donor hands must meet medical, but also anatomical requirements. Ulrich: “It has to be a female hand with the same skin color, a woman of a certain age too, because you cannot use the hands of an 80-year-old woman. You also look at the size, it has to fit the patient. “
Maartje Bijl was lucky, she says. “My hands belong to me, I think it’s very natural. I’m very happy that they really fit my body and I think the functionality is really great. So I’m really happy with it.”
Psychological research
Not every amputee patient is a candidate for a transplant like this. “We are very strict,” Hovius says. “We have prepared Maartje enormously for the disadvantages. There was also a chance that her body would reject her hands. And if things go well, you have to take medication for life.”
Patients are psychologically examined because in the past it has been shown that some are mentally incapable of handling these types of transplants. Ulrich: “It is a complex operation with a long recovery period. The doctors are important, but a patient must also be stable. With Maartje, we saw that she accepted the donor hands from the start.”
More than 100 hand transplants
More than 100 hand transplants have now been performed worldwide. In the Netherlands, Bijl’s intervention was the first, and for the time being the only one. “Not everyone qualifies for it,” Hovius says. “For example, I think you should not transplant a single hand, the consequences are too great for that.”
But according to both doctors, this transplant is an important first step. They think they can expand this further in the future, with Radboudumc as the central point. Hovius: “The first time is the hardest, but we have now created a platform here on which it can be done.”
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