Double hand transplant patient leaves hospital

By Associated Press

Summary

The nation's first double hand transplant recipient has left a Pittsburgh hospital after medicine cleared up a rash that signaled he might be rejecting his new hands.

Story Created: Feb 9, 2010 at 9:30 AM MST

Story Updated: Feb 9, 2010 at 9:30 AM MST

Double hand transplant patient leaves hospital

Jeff Kepner, 57, of Atlanta, Ga., left, lifts one of his transplanted hands while wife Valarie, center, and Dr. Joseph Imbriglia look on during a news conference.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The nation's first double hand transplant recipient has left a Pittsburgh hospital after medicine cleared up a rash that signaled he might be rejecting his new hands.

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center spokeswoman Amy Dugas says 58-year-old Jeff Kepner, of Augusta, Ga., was discharged Monday from UPMC Montefiore hospital.

Kepner received the hands at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in May and went home in October. He was hospitalized last week after he developed the rash on both hands. Dugas says the rash went away after doctors applied an ointment to suppress his immune system.

Kepner, a former pastry chef, lost his hands and feet a decade ago to a bacterial infection. The donor was a 23-year-old Pennsylvania man.

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