The first woman in the world who received a double hand transplant has left hospital. She is now able to move her new fingers, less than a month after receiving the two new hands.

The pioneering operation took place at Hospital La Fe in Valencia, Spain. The patient, Alba Lucia, 47, originally from Colombia, who had the 10-hour operation on November 30, said she was "very happy and enormously satisfied".

Her recovery is ahead of schedule. Both her original hands were amputated after an explosion in her student chemistry lab 28 years ago.

She received her new limbs from a woman who had been declared brain dead after an accident. The arms were removed from above the elbow, cooled and transported to Hospital La Fe in less than five hours.

The surgery team included more than 10 medical professionals, including surgeons and anesthetists, and both transplants were carried out simultaneously. Alba's forearm snags had to be adjusted to match the donor limbs.

Bones were attached with metal plates and screws, and microscopic surgery was used to combine the arteries, veins and nerves. "They look beautiful." said Lucia seeing her arms after the operation. The outcome of the operation seems satisfactory. "She has two new hands and forearms two inches above the wrist bone", said Pedro Cavadas, the lead surgeon. "It will be five to six months before she has any feeling."

"She's delighted, because after 28 years without hands. she sees herself with some perfectly beautiful ones."

"She will have two useful hands that will allow her an independent life. In any case this is much better than any prosthesis."

In men, there have been carried out till now six such operations, the first being performed in 2000, on a 33-year-old man in France.

Photo credit: EPA