S. African surgeon claims world's first penis transplant

Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

A team of South Africa surgeons has performed the world's first successful penis transplant in a marathon nine-hour operation, leaving the patient with a fully functioning new organ, Stellenbosch University announced Friday.

The operation, led by Prof André van der Merwe, head of the university's Division of Urology, was performed in December at Tygerberg Hospital in Bellville, Cape Town.

The university said it was the second time that the procedure had been attempted, but the first time that a successful long-term result was achieved.

The university said the the unidentified 24-year-old patient had had his penis amputated three years ago as a result of a botched circumcision at the age of 18.

"The patient accepted the penis as his own," Van der Merwe told the eNews Channel Africa (eNCA). "He told me in no uncertain terms that the fact it belonged to somebody else is completely out of his mind and he's moved on with this as his own penis. That's absolutely the way we want it."

Van der Merwe indicated that doctors made sure that the the donor and recipient were of the same race.

"Cosmetically we've got a very good match for color," he said. "We obviously transplanted a good normal penis and the erections that the patient gets are very good."

Van der Merwe said the transplanted penis "was harvested from a donor whose family consented."

The university said the patient had regained full function in the transplanted organ, including urinary and reproductive functions.

"Our goal was that he would be fully functional at two years and we are very surprised by his rapid recovery," Van der Merwe.said.

The recipient's girlfriend was offered counselling but declined, Van der Merwe said in the interview that was broadcast on Friday. "We were very thankful that it all worked out in the end and the patient's doing well ... the patient is sexually active again and is very happy."

The surgeon said there are as many as 250 such amputations annually in South Africa.

The Guardian newspaper reports that thousands of teenage boys from the Xhosa tribe in South Africa engage in a secretive rite of passage in Eastern Cape province, in which they spend up to a month in seclusion where they study, undergo circumcision by a traditional surgeon, and apply white clay to their bodies.

While many initiation schools are officially sanctioned, The Guardian says, others are unregulated. Every year, the newspaper says, phony surgeons are blamed for numerous deaths and injuries, including gangrene caused by unsterilized blades

"This is a very serious situation. For a young man of 18 or 19 years the loss of his penis can be deeply traumatic. He doesn't necessarily have the psychological capability to process this. There are even reports of suicide among these young men," said Van der Merwe.

"It's a massive breakthrough. We've proved that it can be done -- we can give someone an organ that is just as good as the one that he had," said Professor Frank Graewe, who assisted in the process.

Van der Merwe said some of the microscopic surgery techniques -- such as connected small blood vessels and nerves -- used were developed for the first facial transplant.

This procedure could eventually also be employed for men who have lost their penises from penile cancer or as a last-resort treatment for severe erectile dysfunction due to medication side effects, the university said.

It added that nine more patients are scheduled to receive penile transplants.