Facial reconstructive surgery in humanitarian missions / Daniel Cataldo ; photographs by Nicolás Bruant.

Operation Servant is run by a group of volunteers who have been performing humanitarian reconstructive surgery in poor countries for the past 25 years. Dr Cataldo is a specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery. In his early career he developed techniques for plastic mitral valve replacement under the guidance of Prof Rene Favaloro, the world renowned inventor of coronary artery bypass surgery. He started his studies of the head and face with Prof Daniel Marchac at the Necker Childrens' Hospital in Paris, where he was Prof Marchac's sole personal assistant. In addition to performing hundreds of cranio-facial reconstructions for all pathologies and malformations of the head, he also practiced all forms of cosmetic surgery, including face lifts, blepharoplasty, breast augmentation and reduction, Lipofi lling, Fillers. He worked alongside Prof Jean Marie Servant for 30 years at the renowned Department of Plastic Surgery in the Saint Louis Hospital, University of Paris, where he received a comprehensive education in general plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. Over the past 18 years, Dr Cataldo, together with Prof Servant, has undertaken research into facial reconstruction necessitated by the devastating disease Noma (cancrum oris). Today, these years of study allow a better understanding of the progression of a disease which, until recently, was almost unknown to the general public. Important advances in facial reconstruction and the approaches employed have improved the quality of life for hundreds of patients, and led to new techniques. These studies are recognised world-wide and serve as a reference for all kinds of facial reconstruction for the future. Dr Cataldo has invented a new technique for the reconstruction of the neck and lower part of the face (face and neck lifting). In 2010, after hundreds of operations with excellent results. these techniques were presented at the University of Tokyo. In 2014, after nomination by 125 colleagues, Dr Cataldo received the Doctor of the Year Award at international level at the University of Buenos Aires. He still works and studies new techniques for facial reconstruction at the University of Paris. Today, he is invited all over the world to operate on children and adults, not only for reconstructions, but also for aesthetic interventions.