Man with three faces
A French surgeon is becoming the first person in the world to conduct a second face transplant on the same patient. Hamon, the man with three faces, suffers with neurofibromatosis type I, which is a genetic mutation that prompts disfiguring tumors.
The patient, Jerome Hamon, transplanted a new face in 2010 by a plastic surgeon from the Georges-Pompidou Hospital in Paris. Now, he has been given a second face transplant due to the reaction of some common cold antibiotics.
Hamon’s new face remains smooth and motionless. His skull, skin and features adjusted a progressive process reliant on immunosuppressant drugs which keeps his body from rejecting the transplanted material.
Immunosuppressive treatment
The first face transplant performs success, but after giving antibiotics for common cold his condition complicated that incompatible with immunosuppressive treatment. In 2016, he started showing signs of transplant rejection and this led to the disfiguration of his face.
The patient had no eyelids, skin and ears. He couldn’t eat or talk, had limited hearing and could only communicate by turning his head. However, the second face surgery needed Hamon’s approval. Later, the medical team completed the surgery successfully.
The surgery completed successfully and Hamon’s face is now smooth and static. However, the alignment of his skull, skin and features a gradual process and he would just gain more control with the help of immunosuppressant’s.
To have the capacity to get the second transplant, Hamon even experienced three months of blood treatment to expel antibodies from his blood in order to accept the new face. He even needed to get chemotherapy to kill his immune system.
