Quadruple amputee Iraq veteran gets new arms

UPDATE
January 29, 2013


Soldier who lost all four limbs in Iraq bomb blast receives double arm transplant
Brendan Marrocco, injured by a roadside bomb in 2009, was the first soldier to survive after losing all four limbs in the Iraq war. The New York City native is recovering after undergoing a double arm transplant and a bone marrow transplant on Dec. 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, his father said Monday.
BY CHELSIA ROSE MARCIUS , JOSEPH STEPANSKY AND STEPHEN REX BROWN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

He was the first soldier to survive the loss of all four limbs in Iraq, and now he’s the recipient of a cutting-edge double-arm transplant.

Staten Island’s own Brendan Marrocco, 26, endured the 13-hour operation on Dec. 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital to replace the arms he lost because of a roadside bomb on Easter Sunday 2009.

“He never quits, he fights to survive,” said Giovanna Marrocco, 76, Brendan’s grandmother.

“He’s very happy, he wanted this transplant. I’m happy, too.”
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Double-arm transplant given to Iraq war veteran
By The Associated Press
on January 28, 2013

BALTIMORE — A soldier who lost all four limbs in a roadside bomb attack in 2009 in Iraq has received a double-arm transplant in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Hospital officials said Monday.

Surgeons who treated the unidentified infantryman plan to discuss the transplant Tuesday at a news conference with the soldier. The soldier is one of seven in the U.S. who have undergone successful double-arm transplants, the hospital said.

The transplant last month is the first for the hospital and involved an innovative treatment to prevent rejection of the new limbs. The treatment used the dead donor’s bone marrow cells and so far has prevented rejection and reduced the need for anti-rejection drugs. Those drugs can cause complications, including infection and organ damage, hospital officials said.

The novel treatment to help prevent rejection was pioneered by Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, plastic surgery chief at Johns Hopkins, when he previously worked at the University of Pittsburgh.
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