Texas hospital teams perform first scalp and skull transplant along with multi-organ transplant

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Houston Methodist Hospital announced the first successful scalp and skull transplantation while also performing kidney and pancreas transplants on a patient, according to a press release from MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The 15-hour surgery was conducted on James Boysen, aged 55 years, who is the first patient to receive the simultaneous craniofacial tissue transplant together with solid organ transplants, according to the release. The surgery took place May 22 and was performed at Houston Methodist Hospital by a team led by Jesse C. Selber, MD, of MD Anderson, and A. Osama Gaber, MD, of Houston Methodist, the release stated.

“This was a very complex surgery because we had to transplant the tissues utilizing microsurgery,” Michal Klebuc, MD, the surgeon who led the Houston Methodist Hospital plastic surgery team, said in the release. “Imagine connecting blood vessels 1/16 of an inch under a microscope with tiny stitches about half the diameter of a human hair being done with tools that one would use to make a fine Swiss watch.”

The surgery was performed by, assisted with or supported by more than 50 health care professionals, according to the release, and included specialized reconstructive surgeons from MD Anderson and Houston Methodist Hospital and a team of transplant surgeons, a neurosurgeon and other staff from Houston Methodist, according to the release. LifeGraft procured the scalp and skull for transplantation, the release stated.

Boysen’s kidney and pancreas were first transplanted in 1992 and were failing, the release stated. He had been diagnosed with diabetes at age 5, which required the original double-organ transplant.

Boysen had been diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare cancer of the smooth muscle, on his scalp in 2006. Chemotherapy and radiation provided successful therapy, but left a large wound on his head that included the scalp and the thickness of his skull down to the brain, according to the press release.

“When I first met Jim, I made the connection between him needing a new kidney and pancreas and the ongoing anti-rejection medication to support them, and receiving a full scalp and skull transplant at the same time that would be protected by those same medications,” Selber said in the release.

Reference: www.mdanderson.org