An Augusta man who received the nation's first double hand transplant was in critical but stable condition, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center announced Tuesday afternoon.
Jeff Kepner, 57, received the first bilateral transplants in a nine-hour operation Monday, the hospital said. Mr. Kepner lost his hands and feet to a bacterial infection in May 1999 and was one of the first to fulfill the testing and protocols required to qualify for the program at the Pittsburgh hospital. He will also receive a new anti-rejection regimen that aims to cut down on the side effects from the standard protocol. Mr. Kepner will receive a bone marrow transplant from his donor to help his immune system accept the new hands and will then be maintained on a single anti-rejection drug.
He is expected to stay in the hospital for a month then spend three more months in Pittsburgh undergoing rehabilitation.
For now he is "being closely monitored in the transplant intensive care unit at UPMC Montefiore," the medical center said in a statement.
Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.
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