Regeneration of cutaneous innervation in a human hand allograft

On Sept 23, 1998, a human hand allograft was done in our hospital. We follo wed up the patients for 24 months to assess the skin structure by immunohis tology. Most cutaneous structures (including dermal nerves with their Schwa nn cells and perineurial fibroblasts) were present immediately after surger y and remained detectable throughout the study; from day 464 onwards, axons became detectable within dermal nerves, and their density increased progre ssively with time. Merkel cells reapppeared in the epidermis 12 months afte r the operation. The regeneration of cutaneous innervation paralleled the r ecovery of cutaneous sensitivity.