A team of doctors in Texas have performed a record-breaking feat by performing the first ever skull and scalp transplant surgery.
The transplant was done on 55-year-old software developer from Austin, James Boysen, whose cancer left him with severe damage to the top of the head.
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The transplant was done on 55-year-old software developer from Austin, James Boysen, whose cancer left him with severe damage to the top of the head.
Boysen received the craniofacial tissue transplant at the same time as a kidney and pancreas transplant at Houston Methodist Hospital on May 22 in surgeries that lasted nearly a day.
Jesse Selber, a reconstructive plastic surgeon who was the co-leader of the team that performed the intricate surgery speaking on the surgery said:
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"For this patient, it means a new lease on life, he had series of cancers of the scalp and skull that were treated with various surgeries and radiation that left him with a large wound that was all the way down to his brain,"
According to Reuters, Boysen had already had kidney and pancreas transplants, and those organs were failing. The surgeons conducted all the transplants at the same time using the same donor because it offered the best chance of preventing organ and tissue rejection.
Meanwhile, the patient Boysen, who's been released from hospital and moved to a recovery residence, has said he's amazed at how great he feels, adding "I am forever grateful that I have another chance to get back to doing the things I love and be with the people I love,"
According to the medical centre, coordinating the transplants and planning the surgeries took more than 2 years, while over than 50 healthcare professionals were involved including microsurgeons, neurosurgeons and reconstructive surgeons.
