Spanish Face Transplant Patient Thanks Surgeons In Public

A Spanish man known only as 'Rafael' is the ninth person in the world to receive a partial transplant

. He has now appeared in public to thank his donor and the surgeons who operated on him. He reportedly wanted to show his gratitude to the family of the man who allowed him to have a new face.

Rafael suffers from a congenital disease known as neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic problem which causes abnormal growth of cells; he has had the disease since birth. Benign tumours had formed on two thirds of his face and Dr Gomez Cia said "there was no reconstructive alternative except for a tissue transplant from a dead donor."

The operation lasted over 30 hours and required a large team of the who's-who of reconstructive surgery. The lower two-thirds of Rafael's face were replaced with that of a donor. After the operation, Rafael spent five weeks in intensive care and a week in a burns unit before finally moving to a regular hospital bed in March. In preparation for his surgery, the team of surgeons spent a year training for the operation on cadavers and using the latest 3D simulation software before an appropriate donor appeared.

Director of Maxillofacial surgery at the hospital, Juan David Gonzalez Padilla 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 still has difficulty talking and his doctors expect he will not regain full use 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.

by: Tom Doerr

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