A hospital in Lyon, France, says it is the first in the world to carry out a double shoulder and arm transplant.
ADVERTISEMENTA hospital in Lyon, France, says it is the first in the world to carry out a double shoulder and arm transplant.
The patient was a man from Iceland, who is recovering after a 15-hour operation on Wednesday at Edouard-Herriot Hospital.
Medical teams from five different hospitals and clinics were involved in the procedure, said Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL).
"To our knowledge [this is] a world first, as previous arm transplants have not included shoulders," an HCL spokeswoman told AFP news agency, adding the patient was in a stable condition on Friday morning.
The hospital group added that he will continue to be treated in Lyon and that more specific information on the operation will be released "in the near future".
According to local media, the 48-year-old man had both arms amputated at the age of 26 after he was electrocuted on a power line. The man had reportedly been on the waiting list for the operation for five years.
The world's first transplant of both arms took place in July 2008 in Germany, on a farmer who had been amputated following an accident at work.
Meanwhile, the world's first hand transplant was carried out in Lyon in 1998.