Patient makes dramatic recovery from amputation to transplanted hand

In October 2016, Jonathan Koch, a 51-year-old entertainment executive from Los Angeles, underwent a 17-hour procedure to replace the hand he lost to a mysterious, life-threatening illness. Six  months after surgery by the UCLA hand transplant team and countless hours of physical therapy, Koch continues to make remarkable strides in his recovery.Already, he has used his new hand to hold a jump rope, dribble a basketball, unscrew a bottle top  and swing a tennis racquet.His remarkable story about the illness that nearly took his life and the rare transplant procedure that helped him recover is chronicled by writer Amy Wallace in the April issue of  Los Angeles Magazine.Koch ’s story opens with the description, “In just 30 hours, a super fit Hollywood executive went from the top of his game to the precipice of death. What happened next would teach him everything about grace, resolve and the power of love.”Koch ’s road to transplantation began back in 2015 after a sudden illness led to the destruction of tissue in his feet and hands. Following treatment at two out-of-state hospitals and knowing that his left hand would have to be amputated, he sought a transplant.  After Koch was accepted for the experimental transplant program at UCLA,Dr. Kodi Azari, surgical director of theUCLA Hand Transplant program and a professor of orthopaedic surgery and plastic surgery, used a novel approach to prepare Koch ’s hand for the possibility of a future transplantation. He amput...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news