World's speediest face transplant saves man's life
Source: Agencies |
May 23, 2013, Thursday
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A POLISH man has received a life-saving total face transplant just three weeks after being disfigured in a workplace accident, in what his doctors say is the fastest timeframe to date for such an operation.
Face transplants are extraordinarily complicated and relatively rare procedures that have required extensive preparation, typically months or years.
But medical officials said the patient's condition was deteriorating so rapidly that a transplant was seen as the only option, though he still faces a high risk of infection.
The 33-year-old patient worked in a stonemason's workshop, where last month a machine used to cut stone severely damaged his face and crushed his upper jaw. The man, identified only as Grzegorz, received intensive treatment at a hospital in Wroclaw, but an attempt to replant his own face failed, doctors said.
He was taken to the Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, which is the only place in Poland licensed to do face transplants and has experience in facial reconstruction for patients disfigured by cancer.
The 27-hour face and bone transplant was performed on May 15 soon after a matching donor was found. The surgery reconstructed the face, jaws, palate and the bottom of the man's eye sockets. Pictures show surgery stitches running from above the patient's right eye, under the left eye and around the face to the neck.
Adam Maciejewski, head of the surgical team, said surgery was the patient's only shot at survival. Prior to the operation the man faced danger from infections because of the tremendous damage to his mouth area and the skull bone. He also could not breathe or eat.
"We assume the surgery will allow the patient to return to normal life," Maciejewski said. "He will be able to breathe, to eat, to see."
However, surgeon Michal Grajek said the patient still runs a risk of infection because the team did not have time to cure any potential infections in the donor tissue.
He will be on immunosuppression drugs for the rest of his life to keep his body from rejecting the donated face.
A picture taken on Tuesday, six days after surgery, showed the patient giving a thumbs-up sign from his hospital bed.
Over two dozen full or partial face transplants have been performed around the world.
Face transplants are extraordinarily complicated and relatively rare procedures that have required extensive preparation, typically months or years.
But medical officials said the patient's condition was deteriorating so rapidly that a transplant was seen as the only option, though he still faces a high risk of infection.
The 33-year-old patient worked in a stonemason's workshop, where last month a machine used to cut stone severely damaged his face and crushed his upper jaw. The man, identified only as Grzegorz, received intensive treatment at a hospital in Wroclaw, but an attempt to replant his own face failed, doctors said.
He was taken to the Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, which is the only place in Poland licensed to do face transplants and has experience in facial reconstruction for patients disfigured by cancer.
The 27-hour face and bone transplant was performed on May 15 soon after a matching donor was found. The surgery reconstructed the face, jaws, palate and the bottom of the man's eye sockets. Pictures show surgery stitches running from above the patient's right eye, under the left eye and around the face to the neck.
Adam Maciejewski, head of the surgical team, said surgery was the patient's only shot at survival. Prior to the operation the man faced danger from infections because of the tremendous damage to his mouth area and the skull bone. He also could not breathe or eat.
"We assume the surgery will allow the patient to return to normal life," Maciejewski said. "He will be able to breathe, to eat, to see."
However, surgeon Michal Grajek said the patient still runs a risk of infection because the team did not have time to cure any potential infections in the donor tissue.
He will be on immunosuppression drugs for the rest of his life to keep his body from rejecting the donated face.
A picture taken on Tuesday, six days after surgery, showed the patient giving a thumbs-up sign from his hospital bed.
Over two dozen full or partial face transplants have been performed around the world.
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