A Single-Center Retrospective Evaluation of Decision-Making and Factors Motivating Hand Transplant Candidates.

This was a single-center chart review of nine patients, so it may not represent other hand transplant programs. Only eight completed evaluations were analysed, and one patient was still undergoing evaluation at data collection. Reasons were limited to what clinicians documented in charts, so patients' private deliberations, family discussions, and undocumented concerns may be missing. The study could not confirm whether patients sought evaluation at another transplant center. Patients who opted out of research were excluded. Because this is a qualitative case series, it describes decision patterns rather than proving that any factor causes withdrawal or regret. No structured shared decision-making process was documented, so agreement between patient and team could not be assessed.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Do not read the absence of transplants as evidence that hand transplant is ineffective or unsafe. This study reviewed evaluations, not transplants, and no completed evaluation led to transplant because patients withdrew or clinicians deemed them unsuitable.