What Life Is Like With A Disfigured Face
(Photo: © Anthony Gerace) In a world obsessed with beauty, living with a facial disfigurement can be hard. Neil Steinberg explores the past and present to find out what it’s like to look different.“Take your ear off for me, please,” Rosie Seelaus says to Randy James, who is sitting on a black exam chair in a special room designed for viewing colors in the Craniofacial Center on the Near West Side of Chicago.He reaches up and detaches his right ear, which she created for him out of silicone seven years before. The ear is shabby, stained from skin oil and mottled by daily use. Viewed under various lights in the neu...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - June 26, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
Doctors perform historic skull-and-scalp transplant surgery
(Reuters) — A man whose cancer left him with severe damage to the top of the head received what his doctors in Houston describe as the 1st skull-and-scalp transplant, the MD Anderson Cancer Center said yesterday.
James Boysen, a 55-year-old software developer from Austin, received the craniofacial tissue transplant at the same time as a kidney and pancreas transplant at Houston Methodist Hospital May 22 in surgeries that lasted nearly a day, it said.
“For this patient, it means a new lease on life,” said Dr. Jesse Selber, a reconstructive plastic surgeon who was the co-leader of the team that performed the in...
Source: Mass Device - June 5, 2015 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: MassDevice Tags: Surgical Organ Transplant Source Type: news
Tranexamic Acid Reduces Blood Loss in Craniofacial SurgeryTranexamic Acid Reduces Blood Loss in Craniofacial Surgery
Following implementation of a tranexamic acid protocol, postoperative transfusions dropped to zero for craniosynostosis surgery in infants at one center. Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines - May 13, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology & Neurosurgery News Source Type: news
Craniosynostosis: Heading in the right direction
Credit: Rachel Larson Photography
When Ella Dorsey was born, her father Paul noticed something different about the shape of her skull. Her mother Cynthia, tired after the birth, assumed Ella’s head had gotten a little misshapen going through the birth canal, not an unusual thing to happen. But just before they were discharged, Cynthia noticed that a pediatrician she hadn’t yet met was paying particular attention to Ella’s head.
“She was holding the baby, touching her head, constantly going over the baby’s skull,” she remembers. “I finally said to her, ‘Is the baby OK?’”
That’s when Cynthia first heard...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - April 21, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Nancy Fliesler Tags: All posts Our patients’ stories craniosynostosis neurosurgery Source Type: news
Here’s Why You Have a Chin
Nature is nothing if not parsimonious, especially when it comes to the human body. There’s a reason we don’t have webbed feet or nut-cracking beaks like other species, and that’s because we don’t need them. The system isn’t perfect, of course. If you ever wind up having painful abdominal surgery, odds are pretty fair that it will be your good-for-nothing appendix that’s to blame. And wisdom teeth seem a lot less wise when you consider how often they fall down on the job and need to get yanked.
As it turns out, the same why-bother pointlessness is true of what you might consider one of yo...
Source: TIME: Top Science and Health Stories - April 15, 2015 Category: Science Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized aesthetics anthropology Biology chin craniofacial structure early humans Face mating primitive humans Source Type: news
How craniosynostosis turned a Costa Rican family into New England Patriots fans
Like many new mothers, Lyana Guzman Gutierrez was exhausted but overjoyed after giving birth to a healthy and beautiful baby boy. But within two weeks, Lyana, who lived near San Jose, Costa Rica, noticed that Marcel’s eyes and other facial features were not aligned.
Lyana’s mother urged her to bring Marcel to the pediatrician, who referred her to a local radiologist. The specialist diagnosed Marcel with craniosynostosis, a condition in which the fibrous joints or sutures between the plates of the skull fuse too early during a child’s development. This resulted in asymmetry of Marcel’s head which, if left untreated,...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - March 18, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Jenny Fernandez Tags: Our patients’ stories craniosynostosis Mark Proctor neurology Source Type: news
Violet’s story: The next chapter
Just shy of her second birthday, Violet is ready to move on to the next chapter of her life. Her face has inspired hundreds of thousands of Facebook likes and shares. The New York Times feature about her has captivated the world. The video series about her medical journey has gone viral.
But these images and words tell a tiny part of Violet’s story. Behind the dramatic medical case is a toddler with an impish grin, delightful belly laugh and (mostly) quiet determination.
Before Violet was born, doctors told her parents, Alicia and Matt, that their twin daughters had a rare craniofacial defect called an encephalocele. Det...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 30, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Lisa Fratt Tags: Our patients’ stories Source Type: news
Violet’s journey: 3D models help doctors plan her surgery
Performing an incredibly complex surgery like Violet’s craniofacial reconstruction takes teamwork and highly specialized tools. Our doctors used 3D printing to create models of Violet’s skull and practice her surgery before ever meeting her. Join us and watch Violet’s journey unfold. (Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston)
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - January 15, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Lisa Fratt Tags: Our patients’ stories 3D printing Craniofacial Anomalies Program Source Type: news
3D printing helps doctors plan a toddler's craniofacial surgery
We report and comment on medical innovations and advances – from bench to bedside – touching on scientific, business and policy issues. Our ranks include science writers, physicians, lab researchers, market analysts and others inside and outside the hospital.
By Nancy Fliesler
Boston Children's HospitalNews Well, Vector Blog, Big Data, Blogread more (Source: Mass Device)
Source: Mass Device - January 14, 2015 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: MassDevice Tags: Vector Blog Source Type: news
The jigsaw boy: Toddler with rare skull condition has life-saving surgery to dismantle and piece his head back together
Charlie Oldfield, from Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, was diagnosed with craniosynostosis, a rare condition which causes the plates of the skull to fuse together and put fatal pressure on the brain. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - December 29, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Nativity 3's Ben Wilby defied the odds to become an actor after brain surgery
Ben Wilby, 12, from Cannock, Staffordshire, was told he would never walk again or talk again after brain surgery to treat craniosynostosis. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - November 5, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Namibia: Surgeons Perform Free Surgery
[New Era]Ongwediva -Ongwediva Medipark in conjuction with the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital is performing free craniofacial surgery on ten patients. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - October 31, 2014 Category: African Health Source Type: news
Trading my patient ID bracelet for an employee ID badge
Honoring Craniofacial Acceptance Month and one young man’s quest to give back
By Torrence Chrisman
Torrence Chrisman, 24, is a history major at the University of Massachusetts Boston. At birth, Torrence was diagnosed with Apert syndrome, a rare genetic birth disorder involving abnormal growth of the skull and the face, fingers and toes. Read about his medical journey as a Boston Children’s patient and his quest to return to the hospital.
I came to Boston after being born in Chicago, where I was diagnosed with the amazing Apert syndrome. It was because of the doctors and surgeons at Boston Children’s Hospital that I e...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - September 29, 2014 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Guest Blogger Tags: All posts apert syndrome birth disorder craniofacial plastic and oral surgery department plastic surgery Source Type: news
Mother's relief as daughter undergoes life-saving nine-hour op to correct rare defect
Laurie Jones was born with craniosynostosis, which can put fatal pressure on the brain as the bones fail to grow normally. After life-saving surgery at Birmingham Children's Hospital she is like any other two-year-old. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - September 29, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
3D Printed Facial Implant System Cleared By FDA
The craniofacial anatomy is highly varied between individuals, and each reconstructive surgery requires a custom implant, which are expensive and difficult to manufacture. Now, however, thanks to 3D printing technology, a lower cost and potentially more customizable implant system will be available to meet these needs. (Source: Medical Design Online News)
Source: Medical Design Online News - August 22, 2014 Category: Medical Equipment Source Type: news
