1st double-leg transplant successful

A team of Spanish doctors have carried out the world's first ever double-leg transplant on a man whose legs were amputated above the knee after an accident. "It is the first time in the world that such a transplant has been carried out," said a statement released on Monday by the La Fe hospital in the city of Valencia. The long operation began on Sunday night and ended after 14 hours on Monday morning, the report added. The surgical team was led by Pedro Cavadas, who carried out Spain's first face transplant in 2009. The recipient was a young man confined to wheelchair for life, as there was not enough of his own legs to be used in developing the prostheses, the medical team said. The recipient's health status is reported to be stable but it may take at least a month for the doctors to determine whether the patient's immune system has rejected the donated organs and the transplant has been fully successful. "On one side, there are the risks of immuno-suppression," said Rafael Matesanz, the director of the National Transplant Organization in Spain. "And we also expect a very long and difficult rehabilitation."