Spain's first-ever non-rejected face transplant surgery carried out in Salamanca
Monday, January 4, 2016 @ 8:46 PM
A HOSPITAL in Salamanca has managed to perform Spain's first-ever non-rejected face transplant, thanks to a pioneering reconstruction technique.
It is only now, after 15-and-a-half months, that the surgeons behind the complex operation have been able to confirm the patient's immune system has not rejected the new organ.
The Paraguayan man, aged 28 at the time of the transplant in mid-September 2014, had been affected by a fast-growing Meningioma which had disfigured him.
This is a tumour of the meninges, or three layers of tissue between the brain and skull, known as the Dura Mater, Arachnoid and Pia Mater.
Even benign tumours in one or more meninges can 'act like cancer' and spread in the same way, according to medics.
The young Latin American's skull and face were badly affected, say surgeons Dr Jorge García and Dr Juan Antonio Gómez-Moreta, who spent 12 hours coordinating a team of over 30 professionals from eight different specialist areas.
The patient has now been named as Fernando Isaac Gómez,
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com