Two exceptional people feature in this photo: on the left Mr. Theo Kelz, the first patient to have a hand transplant in Austria in the year 2000, and on the right Mr Vasyly Rohovyy, who had both hands transplanted in Vienna in 2006.
The photo was taken under the portrait of Professor Raimond Margraiter, the former director of the University Clinic of Innsbruck and one of the pioneers of vascular composite allograft (VCA), which hangs on the 12th floor of the clinic. The portrait was painted by Vasyly’s godmother, Ms. Eva Fersterer, about ten years ago. Her first teacher was a famous english artist Mr. Anthony Eyton at the Royal Academy of Art in London.
While VCA is not directly relevant to pulmonary hypertension, its strides underscore the remarkable advancements witnessed in transplantation over recent decades and serve as a testament to the potential for ongoing developments and enhancements in the field.
