A pioneering operation to treat elephantiasis was successfully performed on a 26-year-old woman from Kalymnos, in the Lymphedema Special Department of the University Clinic of Plastic Surgery of Papageorgiou Hospital, which was the only one in Greece that took over the patient.
According to the doctors of the University Clinic of Plastic Surgery of the Hospital, the patient at the age of 6 years was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1, a serious disease, which caused the development of large tumors of the nerves in the pelvis, buttocks and left thigh.
She then developed deformities in her skeleton and needed orthopedic surgery to correct the imbalance. At the age of 15 the deformity created lymphedema in the left lower extremity, which gradually developed into elephantiasis.
Her doctors considered the neurofibromatosis unoperable and to stop the disease they started administering special oncostatic drugs. Despite the control of tumor growth, elephantiasis worsened and the patient was unable to walk or move freely. Now, the 26-year-old, who is being monitored for her post-operative course at the Hospital, can hope that her daily life will change and a new life will begin.
“I was disappointed, because all the doctors I had visited looking for a solution ruled out surgery. Whatever treatment I followed, there was no response. I could not put a shoe on the aching foot, walk, or get dressed easily. I felt bad about myself. When I learned, from a patient who was treated, that in the Plastic Surgery Clinic of the “Papageorgiou” Hospital the lymphedemas are being treated, I looked for a solution. Now, I’m optimistic and hope that my life will change for the better“, Said the patient after the discharge.
The operation took place on March 17, lasted 6 hours and, according to the doctor in charge, Mr. Dionysiou, is called dermolipectomy and microsurgical repair of the lymphatic system with lymphatic anastomoses.
Lymphedema needed specialized medical treatment in order to offer the young patient an improvement in her quality of life, as since childhood she has been suffering from orthopedic surgeries and treatments, which, however, did not give her the freedom to move easily and walk normally.
The special Lymphedema Department of the University Clinic of Plastic Surgery of Papageorgiou Hospital, under the supervision of the associate professor of AUTh Dimitris Dionysiou and the direction of the professor of Plastic Surgery AUTh Efterpis Demiriswas the only clinic in Greece that undertook the treatment of the patient.
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