Penis transplant recipient from N Cape
corneas of their beloved son. Through this donation they are changing the lives of many patients,” Van Der Merwe said.
The team who performed the transplant consisted of Van der Merwe, FMHS Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery acting head, Dr Alexander Zuhlke, Department of Medicine head, Professor Rafique Moosa, from FMHS’s Division of Urology, Dr Amir Zarrabi, and transplant and trauma surgeon, Dr Zamira Keyser.
The world’s first successful penile transplant was performed by Van der Merwe and his team at Tygerberg Hospital in December 2014, while the second was completed in Boston in May 2016.
Van der Merwe spent years experimenting on cadavers to see which nerves, blood vessels and other elements had to be joined to guarantee full function.
The procedure was performed as part of a pilot study to develop a penile transplant procedure that could be performed in a typical South African hospital.
The planning and preparation for the first study started back in 2010.
There is no formal record of the yearly number of penile amputations due to traditional circumcisions, but one study reported up to 55 cases in the Eastern Cape alone. Ex- perts estimate that as many as 250 partial and total amputations take place country-wide every year, with suicides also being reported.
“Patients describe a penile transplant as ‘receiving a new life’. For these men the penis defines manhood and the loss of this organ causes tremendous emotional and psychological distress,” Zarrabi said.
“I usually see cases of partial or total amputations in July and December – the period when traditional circumcisions are performed.”
Moosa said the safety of circumcisions should be improved.
He also appealed to the public to be become organ donors.
Faculty dean Professor Jimmy Volmink said: “The success of this procedure in the hands of our transplant team is testimony to the high level of skill and expertise that exists in the public health sector in South Africa.
“Also of considerable pride is the team’s ability to balance compassionate and ethical patient care on the one hand, with a concern for the efficient use of scarce resources on the other.”
Zuhlke said the team was thrilled on behalf of the patient and the change it will make in his life.
The Western Cape provincial Department of Health funded the procedure.
While the team does not have funding for more operations of this nature, they hope to shorten the duration of the operation as well as lessen costs.