PHILADELPHIA— In a Penn Medicine medical marvel six years in the making, a 28-year-old Swiss man has hands of his own for the first time since he lost his arms and legs to major infection at age 12. His bilateral hand transplant marked the first surgery of its kind at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania since 2019. The yearslong journey and transatlantic relationship with the Penn Medicine team leading up to the surgery endured amidst the hand transplant program’s pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In fall 2024, Luka Krizanac became Penn Medicine’s fifth hand transplant recipient, a milestone in the program’s international leadership in the highly specialized field of vascularized composite allotransplantation, which involves a carefully choreographed symphony of experts from transplant, plastic, and orthopaedic surgery. Krizanac’s procedure was the first bilateral hand transplant performed in a patient with osseointegrated lower extremity prosthetics, which means that a patient’s leg prostheses are surgically implanted directly into their residual limbs.
“For more than 50 years, Gift of Life Donor Program has proudly partnered with leading transplant centers to advance medical innovation to save and transform lives. We were proud to help coordinate the donation for Luka’s bilateral hand transplant, continuing our long partnership with Penn Medicine to advance vascular composite allograft donation and medical transplantation,” said Richard D. Hasz, Jr., MFS, CPTC, president and CEO, Gift of Life Donor Program. “Gift of Life extends our deep appreciation to the heroic donor and his selfless family who transformed Luka’s life with their generosity.”