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MADRID, Dec 13, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Doctors at Sante Fe Hospital in Valencia, Spain, say the first double hand transplant in the world on a female is a success.
Surgeon Pedro Cavadas expects results to be "brilliant," The Times of London reports.
Within a few months, the woman should have two hands "as close as possible to normality." He said her hands will be "far better" than prosthetic devices.
The patient, identified only as Alba, lost both her hands as a result of an explosion from a chemistry experiment 28 years ago in Colombia. Her arms were amputated above her wrists.
It should take "10 or 12 days" before she moves her new hands. Full feeling should return within six months.
Doctors did not disclose the identity of the donor. The Times says she was a Spanish woman younger than Alba.
The first hand transplant performed in the United States still works "perfectly well" after eight years, Dr. Cavadas said.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
