Double arm transplant recipient doing well

The world's first complete double arm transplant recipient, Karl Merk, is doing well after surgery.

"It was really overwhelming when I saw that I had arms again," said the 54-year-old, who wore a sleeveless black shirt showing clearly where his new arms had been grafted.

"These are my arms, and I'm not giving them away again," he told reporters at the Munich University Clinic where he remains nearly three months after the 15-hour operation.

It took a team of 40 surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other support staff to perform the 15-hour operation on July 25-26. Merk lost his arms just below the shoulder in a combine harvester accident six years ago.

Doctors say there is an indication that nerves are growing back but that it could take up to two years for him to relearn how to use his hands.

Amazing what doctors are able to do now. You can read the whole article here and here.

123-year-old transplanted cornea still sees

Wow, German engineering at it's finest I guess. Well technically it's Norwegian, but German engineering sounded better.

Bernt Aune’s transplanted cornea has been in use for a record 123 years — since before the Eiffel Tower was built. The amazing thing is, the cornea still sees, though not as good as when originally placed.

Okay, if you're like me then it sounds like Bernt is 123 years old. Nope, just the cornea. Bernt had his cornea transplant in 1958 from the body of an elderly woman who was born in June 1885. Doctors told him to expect the transplant to only last five years.

“This is the oldest eye in Norway — I don’t know if it’s the oldest in the world,” Aune, now 80, told Reuters by telephone on Thursday. “But my vision’s not great any longer.”

Well now that's gotta be one pooped cornea! {source}