Spanish Face Transplant Patient Thanks Surgeons In Public

Known only as 'Rafael', a Spanish man who is the ninth person in the world to receive a partial transplant has appeared in public to thank his donor and the surgeons who operated on him. He said he wanted to personally thank the family of the man who allowed him to have a new face.

Rafael has suffered from a congenital disease known as neurofibromatosis type 1 since birth. It is a genetic disease which causes abnormal growth of cells and has caused benign tumours to form on two thirds of his face. "There was no reconstructive alternative except for a tissue transplant from a dead donor." said Dr Gomez Cia, one of his chief surgeons.

After a 30 hour surgery involving a massive team of the worlds best facial and plastic surgeons, Rafael had the lower two-thirds of his face replaced with that of a donor. After the operation he spent five weeks in intensive care and a week in a burns unit before finally moving to a regular hospital bed in March. His team of surgeons spent a year practising for the operation on cadavers and using the latest 3D simulation software before an appropriate donor appeared.

Juan David Gonzalez Padilla, Director of Maxillofacial surgery at the hospital said; "He has recovered his sensitivity in the lips, the cheeks, he can distinguish cold and heat, and he's even shaving, something which he wasn't able to do before because of his illness." Rafael is still not able to talk properly and his doctors expect he will not regain full control of his tongue for another three months as his face and muscles are still enflamed.

Prior to the operation, the tissue, blood vessels and nerve endings were removed from the donor; they were then attached to Rafael's skull. His doctors say he will not end up with the face of the donor as the tissue adapts to the bone structure of the receptor.

Article Source: TravelFreeGuides.com

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Transplant work requires the use of radiology jobs and in the UK is a growing demand for nursing jobs Taunton

by: Tom Doerr

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