Paul Tessier (August 1917 – June 6, 2008) was a French maxillofacial surgeon. He was considered the father of modern

craniofacial surgery Craniofacial surgery is a surgical subspecialty that deals with congenital disorder, congenital and acquired deformity, deformities of the human head, head, human skull, skull, face, neck, jaws and associated structures. Although craniofacial treat ...

Biography

Born in

Héric Héric (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Éri'', ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France. Population Personalities One of its most famous citizens is Paul Tessier, father of cran ...

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...

, Dr. Tessier first attended the Ecole de Médecine in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, Loire-Atlantique, eventually receiving his

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

degree from the Faculté de Médecine de Paris in 1943. In 1942, during internship he started operating on people with cleft lip and cleft palate and Dupuytren's contracture. He joined the pediatric surgery service at Hospital St. Joseph in Paris in 1944. From late 1944 to 1946, he worked at the Center of Maxillofacial Surgery of the Military Region of Paris in Hospital Puteaux. In 1949, he returned to Nantes to become a surgical consultant in

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

. Dr. Tessier started to improve surgical techniques to correct craniofacial deformations in the mid-1950s. He performed his first craniofacial operation in 1967. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he developed the following methods: * Using autogeneous (patient's own) bone grafts instead of

silicone In Organosilicon chemistry, organosilicon and polymer chemistry, a silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer composed of repeating units of siloxane (, where R = Organyl group, organic group). They are typically colorless oils or elastomer, rubber ...

or acrylic to modify

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

and facial contours. * Transcranial and subcranial correction of orbital hypertelorism. * Techniques for correcting

Treacher Collins syndrome Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) is a genetic disorder characterized by deformities of the ears, eyes, cheekbones, and chin. The degree to which a person is affected, however, may vary from mild to severe. Complications may include breathing pr ...

. * Correction of craniofacial clefts. In the 1970s, he began traveling to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to demonstrate his procedures. Today, his techniques are applied not only to

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 maxillofacial surgery, but also other specialties such as trauma and

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system ...

. He was an honorary member of the

American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a professional medical association for surgeons and surgical team members, founded in 1913. It claims more than 90,000 members in 144 countries. History The ACS was founded in 1913 as an outgrowth of ...

, the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

at London, and the

American Society of Plastic Surgeons The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is a professional society that represents plastic surgeons in the United States and Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces a ...

Positions and awards

* International Society of Craniofacial Surgery, Founding Member * European Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Founding Member * Jacobson Innovation Award, 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tessier, Paul 1917 births 2008 deaths People from Loire-Atlantique French plastic surgeons 20th-century French surgeons