The first person in the world to receive two facial transplants says he is feeling well, three months after his latest groundbreaking operation.
Jerame Hamon had his first transplanted face removed last year after signs of rejection following a treatment with an antibiotic (抗生素) during a cold.
The 43 year old remained in a hospital in Paris without a face for two months while a compatible donor was sought.
He said: “The first face I accepted immediately. This time it's the same.”
Mr. Hamon suffers from neurofibromatosis (多发性神经纤维瘤), a genetic condition that spoiled his face severely.
His first transplant, in 2010, was a success, but he caught a common cold in 2015 and was given antibiotics. The drug was incompatible with the immunosuppressive (免疫制疫的) treatment he was having to prevent a rejection of the transplanted material.
The first signs of rejection came in 2016 and last November, the face, suffering from the death of most of cells, had to be removed.
Mr. Hamon lived without a face in a room at Georges-Pompidou hospital in Paris without being able to see, speak or hear until January, when a face donor was found and the second transplant carried out.
To avoid further rejection, Mr. Hamon—dubbed “the man with three faces” by French media ―had special treatment to clean the blood prior to the transplant.
His new face remains smooth and motionless, and his skull, skin and features are yet to be fully matched. But he is positive about his recovery.
“If I hadn't 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,” he told AFP news agency from the hospital, where he is still recovering.
The hours-long operation was led by Prof Laurent Lantieri, a specialist in hand and face transplants who carried out Mr. Hamon's initial surgery eight years ago.
“Today, we know that a double transplant is practicable, it's no longer in the field of research,” he told Le Parisien newspaper.
Anaesthetist Bernard Cholley said: “Anyone who loses their face and then has to wait for a possible and imagined transplant for an unknown length of time—that's something that nobody has ever had to go through here.”
“I'm amazed by the courage of a patient who has been able to get through such a different experience.”
The first face transplant was carried out in 2005 in northern France. Since then, some 40 operations have been performed around the world.
a. His first transplanted face had to be removed.
b. He was given antibiotics.
c. He suffers from neurofibromatosis.
d. He received the first transplant.
e. He caught a common cold.
