7th surgery shows face transplants gaining ground

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-13 16:39

"The fact that we are able to give this gift was a tremendous comfort in our time of grief," the statement said.

At a news conference on Friday, Pomahac said: "There is no risk of recognizing the donor on the new patient. There's a 60 percent chance the patient will look how he used to look."

In a phone interview earlier Friday, Pomahac (pronounced POE-ma-hawk) said the man's injury occurred some years ago, and it left him with "no teeth, no palate, no nose, no lip."

"It was difficult for him to speak, to eat, to drink. It certainly caused a lot of social problems," Pomahac said.

The man had been Pomahac's patient for a long time, and doctors decided to pursue a face transplant because previous attempts to treat him left him still badly deformed. It took three months to find a suitable donor, who also provided some organs for transplant in other patients, Pomahac said.

The 17-hour operation began at 1:15 a.m. Thursday, with the recipient and the donor in operating rooms across the hall from each other. The patient was still recovering from anesthesia on Friday.

"He's still not fully awake so he has not seen himself. We have not really had a meaningful conversation so far," Pomahac said.

"He was incredibly motivated to go forward with it," and was extensively evaluated psychologically by doctors in and outside of Brigham, Pomahac said. "We really made sure that nothing was left to chance."

The seven primary surgeons and other assistants all donated their time and services, Pomahac said.

"We are essentially making a lifelong commitment to help him," the surgeon said.

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