Cartilage in the shape of an ear grows in a patient’s forearm as part of a total ear reconstruction performed at William Beaumont Army Medical Center. The ear was later attached to Burrage’s head by surgeons at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso. The total ear reconstruction involved doctors carving a new ear out of cartilage harvested from Burrage’s ribs, the statement said. “I was going to go with the prosthetic, to avoid more scarring but I wanted a real ear,” Burrage said. In 2012, a woman lost her ear to cancer and grew a replacement under her forearm skin, ABC News reported.

Source: Washington Post May 10, 2018 07:31 UTC