Daria Kartasheva-Ebertz, an immunologist at Pasteur University and popular blogger, posted on Instagram the most important scientific advances in medicine in 2021. Among them — transplant of two arms and a shoulder for the first time.
Arm — dream
Félix Gretarssonwas fatally injured at work. He was in his twenties when he worked as an electrician. In January 1988, Félix was sent to repair a breakdown on a high voltage line. A 10,000 volt surge knocked Felix to the ground. His hands were burned and he himself suffered multiple broken bones and injuries. The man spent nearly three months in a coma, and when he came to, he found that the surgeons, saving his life, had amputated both hands.
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For almost 20 years, Gretarsson has been waiting for his main dream to come true: to get his hands dirty. It took years to find suitable donors. But in January 2021, they were finally found.
The operation, which lasted more than 14 hours, was performed in France. Four surgical teams participated. It is about 50 doctors and medical workers. The hand transplant was incredibly difficult. The thing is, Felix's upper limbs aren't easily amputated. On the right hand, 9 centimeters of the upper end of the humerus remained, but the left hand was missing as well as part of the shoulder. Therefore, when transplanting the left hand, it was very difficult to transplant it. The doctors decided to reconstruct not only Felix's arm, but also Felix's shoulder using a donor humerus.
Such combined arm and of the shoulder have never been done before. The French surgeons were able not only to transplant the arms and the shoulder, but also to reconstruct about fifteen muscles and tendons, two arteries, three veins and several nerves.
“I was able to hug my daughter again!”
A year has passed since this fantastic operation. Felix is actively developing his new hands and blogging on Instagram. He told AiF.ru how his life changed after the transplant.
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“I settled in and adapted to the hands incredibly well. The average rate of nerve growth is 1 mm per day. We expected to have nerves in my elbow, but now I have nerves in my fingers too! They appeared after 9 months, — said Felix Gretarsson.
He's happy to say he can move his right shoulder, bend and extend his elbow, and his wrist is gradually stabilizing. Felix can even move his fingers, but so far all at once, and not one at a time.
“My left hand is a little backward, — says Felix Gretarsson. — But there, I can move my shoulder and my elbow. Two weeks ago, I even started to move my index finger a bit.
2021 has been a difficult year for Felix. Every month he went to the clinic and carried out sensitivity and mobility tests on his hands, underwent rehabilitation.
“Every month I have small victories, — Felix Gretarsson told AiF.ru. — I finally kissed my daughter. When I lost my arms, she had a little over four years. And now I could hug her again! ”
Felix already has four grandchildren. He never had any. He went to Iceland for Christmas and was able to rock the youngest of them for the first time.
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“My fourth grandson was one month old. I managed to sit up with him in my arms unaided, — he says. — I felt his warmth and pressure in my hand. The sensitivity hasn't fully recovered yet, but I feel a touch. Admittedly, if I close my eyes, it will be difficult for me to determine where I am hit.
Félix rarely uses a corset or other similar devices to support his left arm. He sometimes wears a prosthesis if he travels long distances, but he does not use it at home.
“Until I feel the temperature of my hands: It's hard to tell if it's hot or cold. The sensations are a bit like electric shocks. But each time the sensitivity of the hands and the nerve conduction improve, — Gretarsson admits. — I consider myself extremely lucky with my team. They had done several hand transplants before, but this was the first with a full arm and partial shoulder. Nevertheless, they consider this project one of the more successful in their practice.