A German farm worker who lost both arms in a farm accident has become the world's first double arm transplant recipient.
In a 16-hour operation carried out by surgeon Professor Edgar Biemer, the man was given the arms of a 19 year old teenage boy who is thought to have been killed in a road accident.
The 54-year-old man reportedly contacted the professor after seeing him on TV.
Professor Biemer who is a plastic surgeon, along with his colleague Dr. Christof Hoehnke, headed a surgical team of 30 which carried out the surgery at a clinic in Munich.
The patient lost his arms in a threshing machine accident six years ago and is said to be recovering well from the surgery, he is expected to remain in hospital for five weeks of intensive therapy and the surgical team have warned that it is too early to say whether the transplants were successful.
Professor Biemer says the chances of rejection are greater with limbs than with any other transplants because the skin is the largest immune barrier for the body and instinctively rejects skin which it does not recognise.
Professor Biemer says new drugs can stop the rejection and the patient in this case will be required to take such medication for the rest of his life.
How the psychological effect of having the arms of a man 35 years his junior will manifest itself remains unclear.
For the surgery the medical staff were divided into five teams with two teams each removing one arm from the donor, while two other teams prepared the patient to receive them.