Scientific Breakthrough: First Skull and Scalp Transplant In the World

Scientific Breakthrough: First Skull and Scalp Transplant In the World

Question: The scientific world witnessed a major breakthrough in the field of transplant surgery recently. Elaborate.

• The first skull and scalp transplant was performed in an operation that lasted for 15 hours

• The US doctors performed the transplant on patient James Boysen who was missing the crown of his head following treatment for a rare type of cancer called leiomyosarcoma

• He also gained a new kidney and pancreas as part of the procedure

• Close to 50 medical experts assisted the surgery including

- Specialised Reconstructive Plastic Surgeons
- Neurosurgeons
- Transplant surgeons
- Anaesthologists
- Nurses

• The 15 hour procedure was 4 years in planning

• It was led by Prof. Jesse Selber of University of Texas MD Andersen Cancer Centre who came up with the concept

• Boysen had a 25 X 25 cm hole in his head as a result of radiation therapy

• The tissues had to be transplanted using microsurgery

• The transplant was the first of its kind as it is a skull scalp transplant from a human donor as against artificial implant or simple bone graft

• Through the transplant, Boysen was given a cap-shaped, 10-by-10-inch skull graft, and a 15-inch-wide scalp graft starting above his forehead, extending across the top of his head and over its crown. It ends an inch above one ear and 2 inches above the other.

Facts and Stats

• In 2014, surgeons from Holland replaced large parts of a woman patient’s skull with a 3D printed plastic one

• More than 24 face transplants have been done since the first one in 2005 at France

• First one in the US was performed in 2008

• Close to 70 hand transplants have been done across the world

• In October 2014, a Swedish woman received a womb transplant and became the first in the world to give birth after this

• Patients have received transplants or implants of 3D printed body parts from blood vessels to windpipes.