The Johns Hopkins University medical team that recently performed hand and arm transplant hopes to perform world’s first penis transplant soon.
The team led by Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee says the transplant will be for returning soldiers whose penile function have been impaired by war wounds.
Carisa Cooney, assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins, said “You put into context that these are usually young men who perhaps haven’t had a chance to start a family.
“A lot of time masculinity has a lot to do with the perception of themselves. And to have injury to the genitalia can be devastating to their identity and to their relationships back home.
Lee said John Hopkins has a potential patient lined up but is awaiting a donor.
Lee and his team have performed 11 hand and arm transplants in seven patients, and said the process of transplanting a penis is not much different from transplanting a hand.
