First transplantation of a skullcap succeeded

Doctors managed skullcap transplantation for the first time
A medical team in the USA has achieved a medical sensation. The physicians performed the first transplantation of a skullcap and scalp. The patient undergoing the procedure suffered from a rare cancer.

Great progress in transplantation medicine
Transplantation medicine has made tremendous progress in recent years. For example, since 2010, successful face transplants have repeatedly been performed. Only recently has the first successful penile transplantation been performed in South Africa. And for months it has been reported that an Italian neurosurgeon wants to transplant the head of a terminally ill patient. The news agency AFP reports another sensation: in the US, for example, doctors have succeeded in transplanting the skullcap and scalp in a previously unique operation.

For the first time a transplantation of the skullcap succeeded. (Image: DragonImages / Fotolia)

Patient suffered from less common cancer
According to the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, a 55-year-old cancer patient also had a new kidney and a new pancreas implanted in the complicated procedure. According to the information, the 15-hour operation at the Houston Methodist Hospital had already taken place on May 22. It involved more than 50 doctors and hospital staff. According to AFP, the patient suffered from a rare cancer in which a tumor attacks the musculature. It is said that the man had been diagnosed with so-called leiomyosarcoma on the scalp in 2006. The doctors were able to treat the cancer successfully with radiotherapy, but a wound on the skull did not want to heal.

Blood vessels sewn together with fine instruments
The man with diabetes had already received a new kidney and a new pancreas in 1992. When both organs were to be transplanted again, this was initially not possible because of the cranial wound. The doctors in Houston decided therefore for the skull cover transplantation. "That was a very complex process," said senior physician Michael Klebuc. According to the physician, the blood vessels were sewn together under the microscope with instruments "that would be used to make a fine Swiss watch". (Ad)

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