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Psychological problems hamper penis transplant
September 20, 2006
Chinese doctors say they successfully transplanted a penis on a man who lost his own in an accident, but had to remove it two weeks later because of psychological problems experienced by the man and his wife.
The case appears to be the first such transplant reported in a medical journal -- European Urology. The doctors' report said the man, 44, was unable to urinate or have sex normally.
Surgeons led by Dr. Hu Weilie at Guangzhou General Hospital performed the transplant in September 2005, a hospital spokesperson said Tuesday. The penis came from a 22-year-old brain-dead man whose parents agreed to the donation.
Psychological issues are keenly important in transplants. Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, chief of plastic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, recalled speaking with the recipient of the world's first double-hand transplant, who told him it took months for him to accept his new hands and stop referring to one as ''it.''
Fourteen days after the penis transplant, the recipient and his wife requested that the organ be removed.
AP
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