Hand Transplantation in Monkeys: Technical Details and Immunological Aspects

Abstract

In the late 1980s, increased interest could be perceived in reconstruction of acquired or congenital deformities with allogeneic composite tissue. This revival was attributed to the introduction of new immunosuppressive drugs in combination with the widespread possibilities of microsurgical reconstruction. As a consequence, composite tissue transplantation studies were performed not only on rodents and dogs but also on monkeys as preparation for future hand transplantation in humans. As far as the literature is concerned, three groups in the world were active at that time on this particular subject. The group of R.K. Daniel in Montreal, Canada and the group of G. Stark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, published in 1986 and 1987, respectively. Both groups worked on baboon [1, 2]. Furthermore, our group in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, worked on rhesus monkeys and published in 1991 and 1992 [3, 4].