Kumnig M, Jowsey-Gregoire SG. Key psychosocial challenges in vascularized composite allotransplantation. World J Transplant 2016; 6(1): 91-102 [PMID: 27011907 DOI: 10.5500/wjt.v6.i1.91]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dr. Martin Kumnig, PhD, MSc, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Center for Advanced Psychology in Plastic and Transplant Surgery, Innsbruck Medical University, Schöpfstraße 23a, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. martin.kumnig@i-med.ac.at
Research Domain of This Article
Transplantation
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Transplant. Mar 24, 2016; 6(1): 91-102 Published online Mar 24, 2016. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v6.i1.91
Key psychosocial challenges in vascularized composite allotransplantation
Martin Kumnig, Sheila G Jowsey-Gregoire
Martin Kumnig, Department of Medical Psychology, Center for Advanced Psychology in Plastic and Transplant Surgery, Innsbruck Medical University, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Sheila G Jowsey-Gregoire, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN 55905, United States
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Supported by The Tirol Kliniken, Innsbruck, Austria.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest to disclose as described by World Journal of Transplantation. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Martin Kumnig, PhD, MSc, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Center for Advanced Psychology in Plastic and Transplant Surgery, Innsbruck Medical University, Schöpfstraße 23a, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. martin.kumnig@i-med.ac.at
Telephone: +43-512-50427709 Fax: +43-512-585418
Received: July 27, 2015 Peer-review started: August 4, 2015 First decision: October 13, 2015 Revised: December 16, 2015 Accepted: January 8, 2016 Article in press: January 11, 2016 Published online: March 24, 2016 Processing time: 232 Days and 19.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: A psychosocial evaluation for vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) is unique and should be informed by many characteristics that are described in this review article including the importance of multidisciplinary care and the need for careful selection of candidates for VCA. Important areas to consider in the evaluation include: History of ability to comply with medical care, body image, adaptation to previous trauma and preparedness for transplantation, reasonable expectations, and presence of adaptive coping skills of the candidate. Multicenter research will support better understanding of psychosocial variables that predict outcome. Optimally, developing a common evaluation strategy to enhance comparison of candidates with good outcomes to those with less optimal outcomes will help in future selection of candidates.
