*WASHINGTON: *Doctors at Johns Hopkins University said Monday they haveperformed the world’s first total penis and scrotum transplant on a USmilitary serviceman who was wounded in Afghanistan.
The 14-hour operation took place on March 26, and was performed by a teamof nine plastic surgeons and two urologic surgeons.
“We are optimistic that he will regain near-normal urinary and sexualfunctions following a full recovery,” WP Andrew Lee, professor and directorof plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Johns Hopkins UniversitySchool of Medicine, told reporters on a conference call.[image: The John Hopkins Hospital is seen at a area near the downtown ofBaltimore, Maryland. PHOTO: REUTERS]
The John Hopkins Hospital is seen at a area near the downtown of Baltimore,Maryland. PHOTO: REUTERS
The patient was severely injured by a blast from an improvised explosivedevice in Afghanistan several years ago, Lee said. The entire penis,scrotum without testicles and partial abdominal wall came from a deceaseddonor.
“It’s a real mind-boggling injury to suffer; it is not an easy one toaccept,” said a statement from the recipient, who asked to remainanonymous. “When I first woke up, I felt finally more normal.”
He is now up and walking around, and is expected to be released fromhospital this week. The man lost his testicles in the explosion and did notget them restored as part of his transplant.
“The testicles were not transplanted because we had made a decision earlyin the program to not transplant germline tissue, that is to say nottransplant tissue that generates sperm because this would raise a number ofethical questions,” said JHU plastic surgeon Damon Cooney.
“In particular, the ability of the recipient of the transplant to havechildren would result in genetic material being transmitted from the donorof the transplanted tissue to the recipient’s offspring,” Cooney added.
“And we just felt there were too many unanswered ethical questions withthat.” Doctors said they are hopeful he will be able to urinate with hispenis in the coming weeks, and that he will eventually regain enoughsensation to achieve an erection.
The patient retained his prostate gland in the blast, but since he lost histesticles, he will not be able to ejaculate. The extent of his sexualfunction will not be known for about six months, doctors said.
The first penis transplant in the world took place in China in 2006, but itwas later removed due to “a severe psychological problem of the recipientand his wife,” doctors said.
Only four penis transplants have ever been done successfully, including theone announced Monday, doctors said. Two have been done in South Africa, thenation that achieved the first such successful surgery in 2015. The UnitedStates performed its first successful penis transplant in 2016.