The Brigham and Women's Hospital surgeons last week conducted the first full face transplant in US (United States). They were able to attach a donor's face to a Dallas Wiens, a young Texas man who suffered severe burns in a horrific electrical accident in 2008.
Picture of Dallas Wiens (LM Otero/AP Photo)
Dallas Wiens, 25, lost all of his features in his face — except for a small portion of his chin — when the cherry-picker he was working on maneuvered into a live wire.
According to a statement released this morning, the Brigham said that a team of more than 30 medical professional and others worked for more than 15 hours to replace Wiens' facial area, "including the nose, lips, facial skin, muscles of facial animation and the nerves that power them and provide sensation." The transplant extended from the mid-scalp to his neck.
Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, a plastic surgeon who led the transplant team said that there were no complications. Dallas is doing great. He is now in progress.
At a news conference this morning, Pomahac said, "When I saw Dallas for the first time I was worried there may not be much we can do. The injury was so extensive." Wiens had no nose and lips and had been left blind. Pomahac was concerned Wiens would not have enough nerves left to attach to the nerves and muscles in the donor face, but that turned out not to be the case.
Wiens' grandfather, Del Peterson, told the media, "Definitely it's a miracle. When I first saw him after the injury I had no idea what would follow. This is beyond anything I had imagined."
In an e-mail to hospital staff this morning, hospital President Dr. Betsy Nabel wrote that the operation will give Wiens, "in his own words, 'the chance to begin a brand new life.' "
"Today's tremendous news marks a new milestone in Brigham and Women's legacy in transplant surgery," Nabel said in the statement. "The pioneering achievement accomplished by the entire transplant team is a gift made possible by the most selfless act one human being can do for another, organ donation."
The hospital did not release the name of the deceased donor. "This remarkable, anonymous gift is another example of the life-affirming power of organ and tissue donation," said Richard S. Luskin, president of the New England Organ Bank. "As always we are immensely grateful to the donor and the donor family for their generosity."
Consent for the donation was obtained from the donor's family; signing the back of a driver's license is not accepted as consent for face donation.
It is the second face transplant the Brigham has done since establishing the program nearly four years ago. In 2009, the team performed a partial face transplant on James Maki, who had fallen on the electrified third rail at the Ruggles subway station and severely burned much of his face.
Maki received a nose, upper lip, part of the mouth, and surrounding facial tissue from his donor, Joseph Helfgot of Brookline. Maki's face transplant was the second done in the United States. The Cleveland Clinic performed the first in 2008, replacing about 80 percent of the face of Connie Culp, who was injured by a shotgun blast.
Wiens' injuries were more extensive than Maki's. Wiens, of Fort Worth, has chronicled his injury and recovery on a website, where he and his grandparents have tried to raise money for his care. He was a day laborer and had no insurance at the time of his accident.
In a post in June 2009, his grandmother, Sue, wrote that during "22 surgeries thus far, Dallas has had the burned tissues on his face and head removed down to the bone; he has lost all of his facial features, except for a small portion of his chin; and his teeth and left eye have been removed."
Source: dallaswiens.com - https://www.affordablecebu.com/