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Doctors Grows Nose On Mans Forehead Using His Own Skin PHOTO)
A new nose, grown by surgeons on Xiaolian’s forehead, is pictured before being transplanted to replace the original nose, which is infected and deformed, at a hospital in Fuzhou, Fujian province. (REUTERS/STRINGER)
A 22-year old Chinese man whose nose was severely deformed as a result of an automobile accident he suffered in the summer of 2012, is participating in a special medical experiment. Medical doctors have successfully been able to grow a new nose on the man’s forehead, which surgeons will then transplant as a replacement for his damaged nose.
The unidentified patient, known only as “Xiaolian”, was not able to afford expensive plastic surgery to refashion his injured nose immediately following the crash last August.
When the patient’s nasal passages became infected several months following his initial injuries, doctors decided that plastic surgery was no longer a viable option and came up with the idea to grow a new nose on the patient’s forehead. This is the first time that this type of procedure has been tried.
The new nose growing on Xialoian’s forehead has been carefully crafted using his own skin tissue and rib cartilage cut into the shape of a nose.
Speaking to ABC News, Dr. Patrick Byrne, the director of Facial, Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, said forehead skin is used to help reform noses because it is the closest match to skin on the nose. However, usually the nose is reformed during surgery instead of on a patient’s forehead.
“My guess would be that they felt that the tissue in the nose was so damaged they had to use the forehead skin on the interior part of the nose,” said Byrne. “It’ll be a real nose and [have a] breathing passage way.”
Surgeons did not release any information about when the exciting experimental nose replacement surgery would take place or how much the operation would cost. The patient’s new nose is expected to be fully functional immediately after its attachment.
A doctor checks the infected and deformed nose of Xiaolian, before replacing it with a new nose, grown by surgeons on his forehead, at a hospital in Fuzhou, Fujian province September 24, 2013. Xiaolian, 22, neglected his nasal trauma following a traffic accident on August, 2012. After several months, the infection had corroded the cartilage of the nose, making it impossible for surgeons to fix it leaving no alternative but to grow a new nose for replacement. The new nose is grown by placing a skin tissue expander onto Xiaolian’s forehead, cutting it into the shape of a nose and planting a cartilage taken from his ribs. The surgeons said that the new nose is in good shape and the transplant surgery could be performed soon, local media reported. Picture taken September 24, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer
On The Web:
Doctors grow nose on man’s forehead
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/26/doctors-grow-nose-on-mans-forehead/?intcmp=features
Doctors Grow Nose on Man’s Forehead
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/09/25/doctors-grow-nose-on-mans-forehead/
