November 25, 2014—A team of 35 clinicians, including 13 surgeons, worked for 8 hours and 50 minutes to perform a bilateral arm transplant for Will Lautzenheiser, 40. Lautzenheiser became a quad amputee in 2011 following a life threatening streptococcal infection. In August 2010, BWH announced the development of a hand transplant program. To date, the BWH team has performed 3 bilateral hand transplants. Consent for the donation of the hands was obtained by New England Organ Bank staff after conversations with the donor family.
June 26, 2014—Will Lautzenheiser, a former professor of film production and screenwriting at Boston University and Montana State University, has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at BWH for a bilateral arm transplant following completion of a rigorous preoperative evaluation. Lautzenheiser, 40, became a quad amputee in 2011 following a life threatening streptococcal infection.
