Ömer Özkan (born December 31, 1971) is a Turkish plastic surgeon. An associate professor at the
Akdeniz University
Akdeniz University () is a public research university established in Antalya, Turkey. It has been chosen as the second most beautiful university in Turkey, after Boğaziçi University.
It is one of the leading educational institutions in the co ...
in
Antalya
Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...
, he led the team that performed in 2012 the first full
face transplant
A face transplant is a medical procedure to replace all or part of a person's face using tissue from a donor. Part
of a field called "Vascularized Composite Tissue Allotransplantation" (VCA) it involves the transplantation of facial skin, the n ...
in Turkey.
Education
He finished in 1988 Cumhuriyet High School in
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
. After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine at the
Hacettepe University
Hacettepe University () is a public research university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2021.
The university has two main c ...
in 1995, he completed his special studies in
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...
and
reconstructive surgery
Reconstructive surgery is surgery performed to restore normal appearance and function to body parts malformed by a disease or medical condition.
Description
Reconstructive surgery is a term with training, clinical, and reimbursement implicat ...
between 1995 and 2001 at the same university.
Ömer Özkan served in 2004 as a
research fellow
A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...
at the
Tokyo University
The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
in Japan in perforator
flap
Flap may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film
* Flap, a boss character in the arcade game '' Gaiapolis''
* Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland''
Biology and h ...
and super
microsurgery
Microsurgery is a general term for surgery requiring an operating microscope. The most obvious developments have been procedures developed to allow anastomosis of successively smaller blood vessels and nerves (typically 1 mm in diameter) whi ...
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...
,
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(Taiwan) in plastic surgery and
hand surgery
Hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder), American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Retriev ...
for a period of six months each. In 2006, he spent three months at the
Bogenhausen
Bogenhausen (Central Bavarian: ''Bognhausn'') is the 13th borough of Munich, Germany. It is the geographically largest borough of Munich and comprises the city's north-eastern quarter, reaching from the Isar on the eastern side of the Englischer ...
Clinic of the Munich Technical University, Germany on a fellowship granted by the European Association of Plastic Surgeons (EURAPS).
Ömer Özkan was appointed
associate professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
at the Akdeniz University's Institute of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery in 2006. His scientific field covers aesthetic surgery for face and body,
breast reconstruction
Breast reconstruction is the surgical process of rebuilding the shape and look of a breast, most commonly in women who have had surgery to treat breast cancer. It involves using autologous tissue, prosthetic implants, or a combination of both wi ...
,
tissue engineering
Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of cells, engineering, materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintain, improve, or replace different types of biolo ...
,
facial muscles
The facial muscles are a group of striated skeletal muscles supplied by the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII) that, among other things, control facial expression. These muscles are also called mimetic muscles. They are only found in mammals, alth ...
reconstruction at
facial nerve paralysis
Facial nerve paralysis is a common problem that involves the paralysis of any structures innervated by the facial nerve. The pathway of the facial nerve is long and relatively convoluted, so there are a number of causes that may result in facia ...
uterus transplant
A uterus transplantation is a surgical procedure that transplants a healthy uterus into someone whose uterus is absent, or diseased. As part of normal sexual reproduction, a diseased or absent uterus prevents a pregnancy. This form of infertility ...
on August 9, 2011, to 21-year-old Derya Sert with an organ taken from a cadaver. She lacked womb from the birth. This is a first-ever operation in the world because former transplants were carried out by using organs from living donors. It is expected that the patient will be implanted in August 2012 with an
embryo
An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...
, which was previously fertilized and kept frozen, to give birth to a test-tube baby in May 2013.
On September 25, 2010, two arms of 23-year-old Fatih Demirel, who died in a motorcycle accident in
Milas
Milas is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,067 km2, and its population is 147,416 (2022). The city commands a region with an active economy and is very rich in history and ancient rema ...
,
Muğla Province
Muğla Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey, at the country's southwestern corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its area is 12,654 km2, and its population is 1 ...
, were transplanted to Cihan Topal (29). Topal lost in 2008 his both arms below elbow as the corn harvester caught his
upper limb
The upper Limb (anatomy), limbs or upper extremities are the forelimbs of an upright posture, upright-postured tetrapod vertebrate, extending from the scapulae and clavicles down to and including the digit (anatomy), digits, including all the musc ...
s.
On January 21, 2012, Ömer Özkan and his team successfully performed two important transplants simultaneously at the Akdeniz University Hospital, a full face transplant and a multiple limb transplant, both for the first time in Turkey. The 19-year-old marble worker Uğur Acar's face was badly burnt by a toppled oven at home when he was a 40-day-old baby.
The second transplant was simultaneously carried out in another operating room on Atilla Kavdır, who at the age of eleven had lost both his arms and one leg following an electric shock as he contacted
overhead lines
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...
while trying to chase away birds with a metal stick. His transplanted right leg had to be amputated, however, one day later due to
capillary
A capillary is a small blood vessel, from 5 to 10 micrometres in diameter, and is part of the microcirculation system. Capillaries are microvessels and the smallest blood vessels in the body. They are composed of only the tunica intima (the inn ...
immunity
Immunity may refer to:
Medicine
* Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease
* ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press
Biology
* Immune system
Engineering
* Radiofrequence immunity ...
complication while his transplanted two arms showed no problem. The donor for both transplants was Ahmet Kaya, who, hit by a train in
Uşak
Uşak () is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Uşak Province and Uşak District.Ministry of Health.
On May 16, 2012, he performed with his team country's fourth face and their second full face transplant. The face and ears of the 27-year-old patient Turan Çolak from
İzmir
İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
was burnt as he fell into an oven when he was three and half years old. The donor was Tevfik Yılmaz, a 19-year young man from
Uşak
Uşak () is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Uşak Province and Uşak District.docent
The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...
at the same institute. The couple has two daughters, Zeynep Lara called "Zeynoş" and Lidya Naz.
Awards
* 2002 "Junior Basic Science Prize" at the Scientific Essay Contest, Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation (PSEF).
See also
*
Archibald McIndoe
Sir Archibald Hector McIndoe (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.
Early life
Arc ...
*
Joseph Murray
Joseph Edward Murray (April 1, 1919 – November 26, 2012) was an American plastic surgeon who is known as the "father of transplantation" for major milestones in the field of transplantation, including performing the first successful human ki ...