Double-arm transplant recipient dies after urinary tract infection

Dr. Ömer Özkan, a professor from the department of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery at Akdeniz University's School of Medicine, told the press that the 34-year old had been fighting for his life in intensive care for two days and passed away at 4:30 a.m. on Friday. The recipient of Turkey's second double-arm transplant, Kavdır underwent surgery at Akdeniz University Hospital in January. The two arms and one leg transplanted onto Kavdır, who lost his arms and right leg when he was 11 years old, were donated by the family of Ahmet Kaya. Kaya had been seriously injured in a train accident in Uşak and declared brain dead in mid-January.Kavdır's family.

The hospital attempted the world’s first triple-limb transplant on Kavdır. But Kavdır’s situation saw a setback when his body rejected the transplanted leg, which left surgeons with no choice but to amputate it.

Kavdır was discharged from the hospital 69 days after his surgery. However, he was again taken to the hospital on April 2 due to his urinary tract disorder. Professor Özkan told the press that “Kavdır was suffering some urine tract problems. He underwent medical examinations, but no problem was detected in the results of the examinations. We could not detect the cause of the problem at first, but later we thought that the problem might be resulting from a rare fungal infection which generally develops in organ transplant, cancer and AIDS patients. We didn’t see any evidence that would prove the existence of the fungal infection in the patient’s urine culture test [a test to detect and identify organisms, which are usually bacteria that may be causing a urinary tract infection (UTI)].”

Özkan further stated that they could not detect the exact reason behind the general urine tract disorder in biopsies, medical examinations and body scans, so they started antibiotic treatment for his infection and stopped giving the patient immunosuppressive drugs, which are used to reduce the activation or efficacy of the immune system to prevent the body from rejecting an organ transplant. “However, on May 1 his health condition deteriorated, so he was taken to the intensive care unit, but despite medical efforts Kavdır died later passed away on Friday. I offer my condolences to his family.” Özkan noted.

A funeral ceremony was held at the Varsak Cemetery in Antalya. Kavdır’s body was buried after funeral prayer. Speaking to reporters at the funeral, Kavdır’s father, İbrahim Kavdır, said: “I wish my son hadn’t undergone surgery at all, I wish he didn’t have any arms. He was armless, but he was alive.” Kavdır’s 10-year-old daughter while crying told reporters that her father had promised to live and come home and added they had a lot of dreams for the future.

The world’s first quadruple-limb transplant recipient, Şevket Çavdar, also died early in February after his transplanted limbs had to be amputated. Doctors at Ankara’s Hacettepe University Hospital were forced to amputate both arms and the right leg of the 27-year-old due to metabolic failure. Çavdar later died despite what Hacettepe University Hospital said were “extraordinary efforts by 200 doctors and healthcare personnel for 90 hours” to save him.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Health General Manager İrfan Şencan announced that the ministry will establish a scientific committee to investigate the death of Kavdır. Şencan told Cihan that they have requested all medical documents related to Kavdır’s case from the hospital. The minister added that they will look into whether Kavdır died because of a mistake during the surgery and if it is the case, the ministry will launch an investigation looking at the doctors who performed the surgery.

Turkey’s first ever full-face transplant patient, Uğur Acar, who received his face from the same donor as Kavdır, told the Anatolian news agency that they met four hours before the transplant surgeries and had physiotherapy together at the hospital, so he felt very upset after he heard news of Kavdır’s death. Acar offered his condolences to Kavdır’s family.