Cuban American doctor from Miami is a face transplant leader

Miami Herald | Alfonso Chardy


Behind the most extensive face transplant to date is the hand of Eduardo D. Rodríguez, a Miami-born Cuban-American surgeon.

On March 19 and 20, Richard Lee Norris, 37, horribly disfigured by an accidental gunshot wound in 1997, received most of the face of an anonymous donor during a complex and lengthy surgical procedure in Baltimore.

“The transplant was the most extensive in history,” said Rodríguez in a series of recent interviews.

“It went from the top of the head through the forehead, the nose, cheeks, upper and lower eyelid, chin and neck down to the collar bone. Along with that we included the facial skeleton, bones around the eye sockets, the bones of the upper jaw with teeth, the lower jaw with teeth and part of the tongue. We also included the nerves that provide sensation and movement and the arteries and veins of the face.”

The surgery, which lasted 36 hours, was a medical landmark. Rodríguez headed the medical team of more than 100 specialists and support personnel at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/21/2811243/cuban-american-doctor-from-miami.html

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