Medical technology has taken a phenomenal leap forward as around a dozen doctors assisted by 40 other medics performed a 15-hour long, world’s first scalp and partial skull transplant operation at the Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas on May 22.

The transplantation procedure has been performed on James Boysen, a software developer from Austin aged 55. Boysen suffered from cancer and recurrent treatments severely wounded his head.

Boysen underwent a craniofacial tissue transplant at the same time as a kidney and pancreas transplant on May 22 at the hospital in Texas.

It has been reported that Boysen was given a cap-shaped, 25x25cm skull graft and a 38cm-wide scalp graft which starts above his forehead and extends across the top of his head ending 2.5cm above one ear and 5cm above the other.

The surgery is asserted to be the first skull-scalp transplant from a human donor though artificial implants and simple bone grafting has been performed earlier. All the operations were conducted simultaneously by the surgeons as using the same donor significantly reduces the chances of organ and tissue rejection.

Dr Michael Klebuc, who led the plastic surgery team, explained how the team intricately connected small blood vessels about one-sixteenth of an inch thick, with little stitches about half the thickness of a human hair using tools like a jeweler would use to make a fine Swiss watch!

The elated Boysen stated, “I’m amazed at how great I feel and am forever grateful that I have another chance to get back to doing the things I love and be with the people I love”.