Twenty, 15, and 8 months after the first four successful human hand transpl
ant procedures were performed in Lyon (France), Louisville (U.S.), and Guan
gzhou (China), the transplant teams convened in Louisville, Kentucky, to sh
are their experiences at the Second International Symposium on Composite Ti
ssue Allotransplantation. This article presents reconstructive and immunolo
gical data from these landmark procedures in tabular format, in an attempt
to answer some key questions about early outcomes of clinical hand transpla
ntation. On the basis of these data, the initial outcomes of the first four
hand transplants are encouraging and warrant proceeding with additional ha
nd transplantations. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.