Re-transplant Frenchman gets his third face

After rejection of the first graft: First person with two facial grafts

In France, another man was transplanted to a man following the rejection of the first graft. Previously, the 43-year-old was two months without a face in a hospital in Paris, while a compatible donor was sought. According to the doctors, the patient is fine.

Transplantation medicine made great progress

Transplantation medicine has made tremendous progress worldwide in recent decades. For example, medical doctors in the US have succeeded in the sensational transplantation of a skullcap. In South Africa, the first successful penile transplantation has been performed. Meanwhile, even a complete head transplant is planned. Face transplants have been performed since 2005. From this experience now benefited a man from France. The 43-year-old has received his "third face" after a second transplant.

A Frenchman is the first human in the world to undergo two facial transplants. The first graft had to be removed because of a rejection reaction. (Image: edwardolive / fotolia.com)

First patient with two facial transplants

Jérôme Hamon is the first person in the world to undergo two facial transplants.

His first transplant in 2010 was a success, but he caught a cold in 2015 and received antibiotics, reports the BBC..

The drug was incompatible with the immunosuppressant treatment it received to prevent rejection of the transplanted material.

The first signs of rejection occurred in 2016, and last November, the face suffering from necrosis had to be removed.

The 43-year-old stayed in the Georges-Pompidou Hospital in Paris for two months without seeing, talking or hearing until a face donor was found in January and the second transplant was performed.

Genetic disorder

Mr. Hamon suffers from neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic disorder that can cause severe disfiguring facial tumors.

"The cause of the diseases are certain genetic defects that are often inherited. The disease can also occur without family bias by spontaneous changes in the genetic material (mutations), "explains the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) on its website.

"Patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (Recklinghausen disease) show changes on chromosome 17. The incidence is 1: 3,000, with half of the disease inherited, the other half being new mutations not inherited from a parent. Girls and boys are about equally affected, "it continues.

The man with the three faces

Jérôme Hamon received the face of a 22-year-old donor. To avoid re-rejection, the patient - referred to by the French media as a "three-faced man" - had a special treatment to cleanse the blood before transplantation.

According to the attending physician, his new face is smooth and motionless - his skull, skin and facial features are not fully aligned yet.

"I immediately accepted the second face. This time it's like this again, "said Hamon loudly" BBC ".

"If I had not accepted this new face, it would have been terrible. It's a question of identity ... But here we are, it's good, it's me, "said the AFP newsroom patient from the hospital, where he is still recovering.

He told French television: "I'm 43 and the donor was 22, so I'm 22 again."

Fear of renewed rejection

The hours-long operation was led by Professor Laurent Lantieri, a hand and face transplant specialist who had completed Mr. Hamon's first operation eight years ago.

The time without a face was particularly dangerous for the patient: "If you have no skin, you have infections," said Lantieri the newspaper Le Parisien.

"We are very worried about the possibility of another rejection." For a man who had gone through all this - comparable to a nuclear war - it would be good for the patient, according to the physician.

Anaesthesiologist Bernard Cholley added, "I am amazed at the courage of the patient who has been through such an exam."

"Today we know that a double transplant is feasible, not just in the field of research," says Lantieri.

The first facial transplant was performed in 2005 in northern France. Since then, around 40 operations have been carried out around the world. (Ad)