A Spanish hospital claims it has successfully performed the most complex ‘face transplant’ ever. The medics managed to reconstruct the lower part of the face of the man who was terribly afflicted by a disease.
Physicians in Barcelona performed what they call a 'face
transplant', although no information about a donor was made
available.
The 27-hour-long surgery was performed at Vall d'Hebron
University Hospital back in February, the hospital said in a
statement.
It was conducted by a huge team of 45, which included physicians,
nurses, anesthesiologists and other health professionals.
"This is the first time that a transplant of this complexity
is performed in the world," the statement said.
#hvhebron University Hospital has successfully performed a new #facetransplanthttp://t.co/MainfZnHmH#txcarhvhpic.twitter.com/VhYHRjqbci
— hvhebron (@hvhebron) March 30, 2015
The 45-year-old patient has suffered for 20 years from
arteriovenous malformation, an abnormal connection between
arteries and veins, bypassing the capillary system. The condition
can cause intense pain or bleeding and lead to serious
complications.
The man, who didn’t want to be identified, had mass deformation
of his tissue.
"The patient, due to the evolution of his illness, had
important functional alterations, such a vision and speech
problems, and the risk of severe bleeding that put his life in
danger," the hospital said.
The medics managed to reconstruct his lower face, neck, mouth, tongue and pharynx.
El Hospital Vall d’Hebron realiza el segundo trasplante de cara http://t.co/EzgTXNVKC9pic.twitter.com/dgosNdPCcr#LaHoraAzulPP306
— Andrés Cano (@ANDRES_CANO42) March 30, 2015
"The patient evolution after the surgery was successful,
similar to any transplant patient at the hospital. Now he is
already at home and only comes to the hospital to do routine
checkups,” added the hospital.
Before treatment in Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron, the man consulted
several other hospitals, including the Mayo Clinic and Harvard
Medical School in the United States. However, all of them
considered him inoperable. Only Barcelona’s medics took the case,
saying that the surgery was his only treatment option.
This is not the first successful face transplant carried by a
team of Vall d'Hebron hospital. In 2010 the medics performed the
world's first full face transplant on man who had a trauma. He
was left without a nose and had deformed jaw and cheekbones.
The world's first partial face transplant was carried out in 2005
in France. Isabelle Dinoire underwent the operation to replace
her original face, which had been mauled by her dog.