World's First transplant of two full arms

BERLIN (AFP) — A German medical team said Friday it had performed what it called the world's first transplant of two full arms, on a farmer who had lost both his limbs in an accident.

The male patient, 54, was "doing well under the circumstances" after the 15-hour operation on July 25-26, a spokeswoman for the clinic at the Technical University in the southern city of Munich said.

The amputee, who had lived without arms for six years since the accident, consulted the 40-member team at the university's Rechts der Isar Clinic after two failed attempts to use artificial prostheses.

"The man required round-the-clock assistance -- a condition he wanted to change as quickly as possible," the clinic said in a statement.

The head of the transplant team, Christoph Hoehnke, told reporters he was deeply moved as the man's wife went to his bedside after the operation and instinctively reached for his hands.

"They look just like they used to," she said, according to Hoehnke.

The patient was in a good condition but it could take two years before he "really has feeling in his fingertips again" because the transplanted nerves must still grow, the clinic spokeswoman said.