I have just returned from the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery meeting in Arizona. It was a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues from around the globe and share information about the latest techniques in complex reconstruction. In particular, it was fantastic to catch up my mentor, Stefan Hofer, and colleagues in Toronto who performed the first successful hand transplant in Canada earlier in the month.
I was fortunate to be giving a lecture on a special technique in mouth cancer reconstruction that we are developing at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ Hospital. It involves transplanting a special bit of tissue from the patient’s calf to help restore speech and swallowing – two functions that are often compromised after treatment for mouth cancer. We now have a good series and the results are very promising.
