It’s the first time that doctors have transplanted a patient’s eyelids.
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Patrick Hardison, a 41-year-old fire fighter was given a new face after it got burnt in an accident, in a surgery which went on for 26 hours.
The surgery took place in August at the NYU Langone Medical Center.
Prior to the procedure, there had been nine other face transplants and a scalp transplant in the United States, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which is under contract with the federal government to allocate organs for transplantation.
Patrick Hardison’s life changed in 2001, when the MS volunteer firefighter’s face was burned off during an intense blaze. While he was on a rescue-research for a woman, who was said to be inside the burning home but wasn’t really there, the roof suddenly collapsed on him.
Hardison was referred to Rodriguez after more than 70 previous surgeries. Hardison became a patient of Rodriguez’s while the doctor was at UMMC and continued to work with him after he was recruited to join NYU Langone. “The same goes with the face”, Dr Rodriguez said following a news conference in NY.
Blinking – and involuntary blinking in particular – helps prevent infection and preserve sight by keeping the eyes hydrated and clean.
“It’s not an operation for everyone”, he said at a presentation Monday announcing the successful surgery.
Rodriguez explained that everything has to be perfectly positioned, including the bones, muscles, ear canals, lips and nerves.
The transplant extends from the very top of the head, over Hardison’s skull and down to the collarbones in front; in back, it reaches far enough down that just a tiny spot of Hardison’s original hair stays – its color matched by the dark blond hair growing on his new scalp.
Hardison was able to move his eyelids several days after the surgery, and began to grow hair within about one month, Rodriguez said.
The university said that just three months after the surgery – a critical period when most rejections occur – Hardison is “doing well and is quickly returning to his daily routines”.
Crucially, Dr Rodriguez also transplanted key pieces of the facial skeleton – the bridge of the nose, the tip of the chin and parts of the cheekbones. The replacement face belonged to 26-year-old David Rodebaugh, a Brooklyn bike mechanic, who died from a bike accident. He also won several cycling competitions, gaining a loyal following of fans and admirers in NY and across the country in the close-knit BMX cycling community.
A year later Mr Rodebaugh was identified as a potential donor after hitting his head during a bicycle collision with a pedestrian. David Rodebaugh was an artist and competitive cyclist.
The CNN reported that the medical team who handled the face transplant took 12 hours to successfully remove the face of Rodebaugh and bring it to the operating room where Hardison is.
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When Dr. Rodriguez joined the faculty of NYU Langone in November 2013 as chair of plastic surgery, one of his goals was to develop and launch a face transplant program. He assembled a team and educated them on the intricacies of facial transplantation. The 36-hour operation involved more than 150 doctors, nurses and staff members.
