The reconstruction began in her arm.
Carine, a French woman in her 50s, had lost part of her nose after surgery for paranasal sinus cancer in 2013. Doctors designed a custom 3D-printed biomaterial scaffold and placed it under the skin of her forearm for two months, allowing tissue and blood vessels to grow into it.
Then they moved that structure to her face and connected a blood vessel near her temple. To repair her arm, they used a skin graft from her thigh. Ten days after the surgery, Carine said she was breathing “a little better” and could smell the aromas of her garden again. “I can go out, and I’m coming back to life”, she said. She will still need more operations to refine her nose and rebuild her teeth.