A man in Iceland who underwent a double arm transplant in 2021 is now showing signs of rejection in both arms, he told news outlet mbl.is. He suspects that cancer treatment he received in recent months may have triggered the symptoms, which, if confirmed, could be relevant for other transplant patients.
The patient spoke about his situation in detail in a recent interview published by mbl.is. The specific type of cancer treatment he received has not been disclosed, and medical teams have not publicly confirmed a direct link between the therapy and the rejection episode.
According to the interview, the rejection symptoms began after the patient’s recent cancer therapy. Further information about the hospital or doctors now treating the rejection, or the current prognosis for the transplanted arms, has not been made public.
Background
Double arm transplant surgery involves replacing both of a patient’s arms with those from a donor, a rare and complex operation that has only been performed a handful of times worldwide. The patient typically must take immunosuppressive drugs to reduce the risk of rejection.
Sources
- mbl.is (first reported) in Icelandic
