National Sun Yat-sen University business management assistant professor Wang Chih-yuan (王致遠), who local media have dubbed the “miracle professor,” is scheduled to return to class tomorrow after undergoing the nation’s first double arm transplant.
Wang contracted an atypical mycobacterial disease in 2015 and nearly died of organ failure and circulatory shock. Doctors were forced to amputate Wang’s arms and legs because of the disease.
He was able to return to teaching last year, using electronic prosthetic hands and legs.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
However, not happy with his prosthetic hands, Wang underwent a double arm transplant in March at the Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
The hospital said the operation was a success and on Saturday Wang told reporters that he was happy and grateful for the opportunity to have the transplant.
He said rehabilitation therapy over the past six months has enabled him to learn some tasks, although not as many as he could perform when he used the prosthetics.
He said he hoped he could do more after six more months of rehabilitation therapy.
Wang talked about his experiences again yesterday at a news conference in Taipei.
Wang’s surgery took 13 hours with the work of 20 doctors in the Center for Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation, the hospital’s Division of Trauma and Emergency Survey chief Lin Cheng-hung (林承弘) said on Saturday, adding that the surgery was paid for by the Chang Gung Hospital’s medical research fund.
Wang’s surgery is the 11th double arm transplant in the world after the amputation of all four limbs, Lin added.
Double arm transplant surgery is more complex than organ transplant surgery, as it involves the transplant of nerves, blood vessels, skin tissue and other elements, Lin said.
The team had to be particularly cautious about the skin transplant because, the skin is easily rejected by the recipient’s immune system, he added.
“The main purpose of double arm transplant surgery is not to sustain a person’s life, but to improve the quality of life,” Lin said, adding that finding appropriate arm donors can be challenging.
The hospital said the surgery is categorized as a human trial regulated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
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