University of Maryland Completes Most Extensive Full Face Transplant to Date

BALTIMORE, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The University of Maryland released details today of the most extensive full face transplant completed to date, including both jaws, teeth, and tongue. The 36-hour operation occurred on March 19-20, 2012 at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center and involved a multi-disciplinary team of faculty physicians from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a team of over 150 nurses and professional staff.  

The face transplant, formally called a vascularized composite allograft (VCA), was part of a 72-hour marathon of transplant activity at one of the busiest transplant centers in the world.  The family of one anonymous donor generously donated his face and also saved five other lives through the heroic gift of organ donation.  Four of these transplants took place over the course of two days at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

The face transplant team was led by Eduardo D. Rodriguez, M.D., D.D.S., associate professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and chief of plastic, reconstructive and maxillofacial surgery at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center. This marks the first time in the world that a full face transplant was performed by a team of plastic and reconstructive surgeons with specialized training and expertise in craniofacial surgery and reconstructive microsurgery. 

The face transplant recipient, 37-year-old Richard Lee Norris of Hillsville, Virginia, was injured in 1997 in a gun accident.  Since that time, he has undergone multiple life-saving and reconstructive surgeries. Due to the accident, Mr. Norris lost his lips and nose and had limited movement of his mouth.  Mr. Norris first came to the University of Maryland Medical Center in 2005 to discuss reconstructive options with Dr. Rodriguez.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine,
University of Maryland Medical Center &
R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

Founded in 1807, the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore is the oldest public medical school in the United States, and the first to institute a residency training program. The School of Medicine was the founding school of the University of Maryland and today is an integral part of the 11-campus University System of Maryland. The partnership between the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine allows cutting edge medical research and discovery to rapidly innovate and improve patient care and prepare the next generation of health care professionals through excellent training and education.

The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) is a 779-bed teaching hospital in Baltimore and the flagship institution of the 12-hospital University of Maryland Medical System.  Patients are referred nationally and regionally for advanced medical, surgical and critical care. All physicians on staff at the Medical Center are faculty physicians of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center is the nation's first coordinated trauma system and is dedicated to multidisciplinary research and treatment of critical injury and illness.  Shock Trauma is where the "golden hour" concept in critical care medicine was born.  Under the direction of Thomas M. Scalea, M.D, Shock Trauma treats more than 8,000 trauma and critical care patients each year and trains trauma providers from around the world including U.S. military medical professionals.