First Quadruple Limb Transplant Performed In Turkey (VIDEO)

Doctors in Turkey performed what is thought to be the world's first quadruple limb transplant.

Sevket Cavdar, 27, received a pair of arms and legs after a team of about 50 doctors at a university hospital in Ankara attached the limbs during a 20 hour surgery, the Associated Press reports.

The man lost his limbs during an electric shock incident in 1998, according to the the Hurriyet Daily News.

The news service also reports the limbs were taken from a 40-year-old patient who was pronounced brain dead days after being involved in an accident. The family decided to donate the organs.

Doctors did not report on Cavdar's condition, but said they remain optimistic for now.

"We have good results but maybe we will lose all of the limbs," Serdar Nasir, a surgeon, told Sky News. "Maybe (we'll) lose only one or two, we have to wait, but I think for now we have good results."

The patient will still need to be monitored closely.

"The blood and plasma defusion are still continuing for our patient to overcome the critical next 24 hours," professor Murat Tuncer said, according to the AFP.

Cengiz Gur, a 25-year-old patient, whose face was damaged during an explosion, received the donor's face during a separate surgery on Feb. 24, the Harriyet Daily News reports.

Doctors at another Turkey hospital previously attempted a triple limb transplant, the Associated Press reports. They later had to remove a leg "due to tissue incompatibility."

Comments

[Killermolls44]

05:32 PM on 02/27/2012

And unfortunately he didn't survive. The guy is now dead. "/

[Denisehh3]

11:27 PM on 02/26/2012

It's exciting to see the various advancements in surgical technology ....... to see the endless possibilities become a success........how rewarding it must be to help any patient achieve the very things in life some of us simply just take for granted.......

[Cynth Bage]

06:55 PM on 02/26/2012

If the scientific community can agree upon a consistent and successful neural regeneration procedure, and if there is a consistent amount of support for why and how this can happen, then it is possible for such transplants to be successful. The downside is genetic incompatibility between donor and recipient, which is a known risk in organ transplants. I'll give the scientific community mad props for making the effort--and it took an incredible amount of self-control for me to not make the obvious joke here.

[mattgarodan]

12:56 PM on 02/26/2012

Isn't this rather pointless? The nerves are still severed, so Mr. Cavdar will never experience any feelings at all with those limbs. Plus, wouldn't he experience difficulty in moving his new arms and legs?

[john blahuta]

01:11 PM on 02/26/2012

that's the next challenge. some main nerves CAN be connected. the fine tuning is another thing. but: 1. you have to start somewhere and 2: only when you try and try you will be successful eventually. not to mention that living with 2 arms that partially work and no legs still beats being just a torso any day.

[mattgarodan]

01:17 PM on 02/26/2012

True, true. I hadn't considered that.

[captobvious1980]

10:35 AM on 02/28/2012

This is just a starting point for limb replacement. If they connect main nerves and the patient regains 50% of movement that is better than 0%. Also the doctors learn and teach others. Soon perhaps they won't need to worry about donor limbs. Once we learn to reconnect nerves what's to stop u from connecting them to cybernetic limbs? No tissue problems there.

[ronnycorona]

12:36 PM on 02/26/2012

We should focus on robotic prosthesis rather than perfecting transplants. With robotics there is no need for a donor and no problem with rejection. With robotics you could just replace organs as they age until you are essentialy a robot with human head. Actualy you could even begin replacing damaged parts of the brain itself until you are a complete robot with a patch of your old scalp growing atop your robot head "for old times sake".

[cali cali]

12:14 PM on 02/26/2012

Life is not a game of playing Mr.Potatoe Head....."I'll take that eye ball, those feet, and oh yeah can you throw in the ears too?"................
Piecing back Frankensteins is not what our bodies are meant to take on.
The ripping, tearing, cutting, sawing and degredation of someones body parts to be sewn onto someon elses body like a complex jigsaw puzzle is disturbing.
Crunch, gurggle, snap......here you go here is my elbow.....need a hip bone too?.....snap, crunch....
Not sickening to you?

[winterstale07]

12:32 PM on 02/26/2012

I bet it sounded awesome to the guy who had no means of being able to walk or pick up things for over ten years.

[john blahuta]

01:20 PM on 02/26/2012

you can bet your bottom penny on that!

[john blahuta]

12:42 PM on 02/26/2012

probably NOT sickening to the guy who received them. it's incredible. think about the number of nerves that need to be connected.

[cali cali]

12:48 PM on 02/26/2012

Don't get me wrong--I am beyond understanding of a persons situation that might benefit from this type of freak medicine being practiced.....
I have never heard my own voice, the sound and words of my parents saying I love you nor will I ever hear what my own child sounds like---a dog barking, a car horn, use a normal phone the way hearing people do.....
Does that mean I am eager for someones untimely and painful demise to start ripping out ear drums, cartalidge and draining their blood? Hell no!

[FJavaid]

11:47 AM on 02/26/2012

One day nanomites and stem cells will be able to regrow whole limbs and organs.

[francfist]

11:55 AM on 02/26/2012

I agree, but this will only happen - one day, if a lot of people in this country quit rejecting science.
After all, lizards can regrow their tails - it is not such a leap to think they coud figure out how to stimulate people at some point to be able to regrow limbs.

[steveforsociety]

01:07 PM on 02/26/2012

I think it's a bit of a stretch, but not impossible. If it were necessary to grow an organ/limb at a normal rate, it'd take a long time for maturation. (I'm not sure if the rate of lizards are faster...sounds like a good topic to look up for me)

But with that said, you're spot on with the rejection of science in this country. Instead of our political "job creators" trying to spur "innovation", we need to defeat this culture of ignorance. Spurred innovation will naturally follow.

[Podzak]

12:06 PM on 02/26/2012

Cool.
Does this include knobs?

[FJavaid]

12:14 PM on 02/26/2012

If by knobs you mean penises then I suppose so.

[ronnycorona]

01:01 PM on 02/26/2012

If by knobs you mean schwantz, tool, one eyed python, lizard, action jackson, bacon torpedo, babys arm holding an apple, the bald avenger, The Chubby conquistador , or johnson, yes.

[Bergen2]

11:06 AM on 02/26/2012

Hope that stem cell research will find a way to help transplant survivors be relieved of a lifetime on anti rejection drugs.

[francfist]

11:56 AM on 02/26/2012

also a possible scenario if people would quit rejecting science.

[john blahuta]

12:44 PM on 02/26/2012

which would be stupid. then we would still be living in caves without even fire.

[john blahuta]

12:37 PM on 02/27/2012

yeah, when it comes to stupidity the possibilities are unfortunately endless. well , they'll get it one day. that's why i have my hopes set on evolution....

have a great week!

john

[john blahuta]

01:23 PM on 02/26/2012

it will eventually. provided we don't have presidents who are against it. the way georgie boy walks one could almost think HE had leg transplants....

[kejavas]

11:04 AM on 02/26/2012

"We have good results but maybe we will lose all of the limbs," Serdar Nasir, a surgeon, told Sky News. "Maybe (we'll) lose only one or two, we have to wait, but I think for now we have good results." TRANSLATION; We have good results because we got them connected, but now we have to see if they will work.

[daily randy]

11:18 AM on 02/26/2012

I think they have to see if the body will reject them or not. As for them working, it will take at least a year before the patient's nerves grow down the length of the limbs and into the toes and fingers ... nerves only grow about 1 inch a month. There has been reports of several patients who have received limb transplants getting up to 90% of functionality in the new limbs after the nerves grew in. That's pretty impressive! There was a high school aged young man in Nebraska who had both his arms taken off by farm equipment ... that was a decade or more ago ... and they reattached them. I've never heard if he was able to regain the use of his arms after the nerves grew in. I hope so.

[francfist]

11:57 AM on 02/26/2012

ever heard "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." ? makes sense to me but then I don't reject science in favor of...........

[john blahuta]

12:45 PM on 02/26/2012

yes, after all there was a first heart transplant in south africa a long time ago....

[kejavas]

06:28 AM on 02/27/2012

many do not reject science as man's feeble attempt to nderstand the creator--after all, HE invented what we study.

[john blahuta]

01:26 PM on 02/26/2012

have them saw of YOUR limbs and volunteer.....how about that?? what a compassionate guy you must be. and if that was supposed to be a joke it was a tasteless one.

[grundoboy]

02:19 PM on 02/26/2012

yep, it was tasteless,, that was the plan...wah wah

[Tanishh]

11:01 AM on 02/26/2012

My dad's a surgeon who recently took part in UPENN's first double hand transplant. I asked him about this; he wasn't all that impressed because he said the chances they'll lose both legs are near 100%. It's ambitious, sure, but unless they have some secret weapon that'll give the legs a better chance, a futile gesture.

Most doctors don't do leg transplants even by themselves for a reason: they just don't work. Hands work because you can do relatively low strength things with them and get use out of them. What are legs for except walking? Walking requires a ton of stress on the legs. Not to be a Debbie downer but I'd bet a ton of money this guy loses his legs. The technology just isn't there yet.

[Taxim]

11:06 AM on 02/26/2012

Well heck, if you dad said so... :))

[daily randy]

11:22 AM on 02/26/2012

I didn't realize that. But the technology comes into existence because of attempts like this ... so let's hope they keep trying even if they fail on this patient. I find these types of surgeries to be incredible ... not just because of what surgeons can do these days, but also because of how amazing it is that animal bodies can successfully undergo these types of surgeries.

[farmilyman]

10:55 AM on 02/26/2012

Impressive.

[Savi1]

10:44 AM on 02/26/2012

I hope that it works. It would be nice to think that you get a second chance at having all limbs. I would also like to see robotic limbs being able to be used. If it looked human, who would be the wiser?

[Beyond the Rainbow]

12:15 PM on 02/26/2012

There's a kid in my hometown who lost all 4 limbs in Iraq...it would be nice if he could benefit from something like this. He's only about 23 years old. I think the VA should be involved in experiments of this sort...we spend so much on wars and defense, at least some of that money should be used to help the veterans of those wars.

[morekare]

10:40 AM on 02/26/2012

God bless all who were involved with this. I pray all goes well. It would be nice to have AOL follow-up with this case.

[profhdjr]

10:10 AM on 02/26/2012

Keep up the good work. I do hope that the transplants are successful. It gives great hope to amputees.

[francfist]

12:00 PM on 02/26/2012

there have already been several successful face transplants in the world. Bless all those who find themselves in such need and one can only hope the voices of reason in this world will drown out the voices of those who are anti-science.