French woman left without a nose after cancer treatment, surgeons grew it on her arm and then successfully transplanted it on her face

Chandigarh, November 12

A patient in Toulouse had lost a large part of her nose after being treated for nasal cancer in 2013.

She lost her nose after being treated for nasal cavity cancer in 2013 following was given radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

After this, in a ground-breaking procedure, surgeons in France grew a new nose for the woman on her arm and then successfully grafted it to her face.

A custom-made biomaterial – used in the place of cartilage – was first 3D printed into a shape based on images of her nose from before her cancer treatment, reports standard.co.uk. The structure was then implanted in the patient’s forearm, where skin taken from her temple was grown over it.

In September, after two months in her arm, the nose was transplanted onto her face.

Taking to Facebook, Toulouse University Hospital (CHU), shared pictures of the nose growing on the forearm. The hospital announced that the new nose was successfully grafted to the woman’s face on Tuesday.

Using micosurgery, surgeons connected blood vessels in the arm skin to blood vessels in the woman’s face.

The tailor-made intervention was carried out by the ear, nose and throat and cervico-facial surgery teams from the Toulouse University Hospital, and the Claudius Regaud Institute, and took place at the Toulouse-Oncopole University Cancer Institute.