Man's head is expanded with a balloon the size of a grapefruit during groundbreaking op to replace the skin on his scalp



Chris Stoyanov endured 17 years of operations to try and remove a tumour

Surgeons were forced to cut away 23cm of scalp to remove the lump



It left the 30-year-old with a huge bald patch at the front of his head

Plastic surgeon Niall Kirkpatrick inserted a balloon under his skin

It was inflated to the size of a grapefruit in six months stretching the scalp

Mr Stoyanov had to take care not to burst the balloon while he slept



Then Mr Kirkpatrick was able to cover the bald patch creating a new hairline

Mr Stoyanov said: 'This has really changed my life. It really is unbelievable'







A man's scalp was stretched to the size of a grapefruit using an inflated balloon to cover a bald patch left when surgeons removed a tumour and 23cm of skin.

Surgeons used the groundbreaking procedure to stretch Chris Stoyanov's skin over his scalp after 17 years of operations to try and remove the tumour tissue.

A special bag was inserted underneath Mr Stoyanov's skin and doctors gradually filled it with fluid until it reached the size of a grapefruit.

The 30-year-old from Worthing in Surrey had to live with the large growth of six months, taking great care to ensure it did not burst.

Surgeons stretched Chris Stoyanov's scalp using an inflated balloon beneath the skin (left). The groundbreaking procedure allowed doctors to cover a patch of baldness left following surgery to remove a tumour. Today, the 30-year-old has a full head of hair after the successful procedure (right)



The builder said it had been difficult, especially when it came to sleeping.

But the procedure, performed by plastic surgeon Niall Kirkpatrick was a success, and the skin on the back of Mr Stoyanov's head stretched enough to cover his entire scalp, meaning he no longer has the bald patch.

Mr Stoyanov said: 'It was very uncomfortable and as it got bigger I had to be more and more careful that it didn’t burst.

'It was a difficult six months but I managed to take things very slowly and carefully and it’s proved a huge success.'

The procedure was performed after Mr Stoyanov endured 17 years of operations to remove a tumour.

When he was 13 a fatty cyst appeared on the crown of his head. Despite numerous operations in Bulgaria, doctors were unable to remove it completely.



Mr Stoyanov said: 'After a few years, it just grew back again. I went back and forth from hospital.

'Surgeons would keep removing the tumour and the skin around it. They had to use skin grafts from my legs to cover the patches and my hair never grew back so I spent nearly seven years in baseball caps.'

For 17 years Mr Stoyanov had numerous operations to remove a tumour which began to grow on his scalp when he was 13 years old. After moving to the UK surgeons removed the final tumour tissue, but had to remove 23cm of the 30-year-old's scalp in the process. It left him with a huge bald patch, pictured

Doctors gradually inflated the balloon in Mr Stoyanov's head over six months (left). Plastic surgeon Niall Kirkpatrick was then able to stretch the expanded scalp to cover the bald patch, creating a new hairline (right)



Mr Stoyanov finally gave up on treatment in Bulgaria and moved to the UK in 2009.

Two years later he consulted his local GP who referred him to specialists in London.

Alarmingly, he was told that if the tumour was left to grow untreated it could eventually pierce his skull and prove life threatening.

Mr Stoyanov said: 'I had never thought it could be so dangerous and it was quite a shock when I was told what could happen if I just left the tumour to grow. I knew something had to be done.'

Surgeons discovered that previous operations had failed to remove all the tumour tissue, leaving it to grow back.

Mr Stoyanov pictured following the surgery to create his new hairline

In order to remove all the tissue, doctors had to remove 23cm of skin from Mr Stoyanov's head, replacing it with a skin graft from his thigh.



But while removing the tumour, it left Mr Stoyanov with a huge bald patch and the prospect of the hair never growing back.

But a year later, surgeon Mr Kirkpatrick came up with an innovative solution to his problem.

Mr Kirkpatrick said: 'Tissue expansion is a well established technique in plastic surgery but it is very rare to use it on such a large defect of the scalp.

'It was most important to restore all Chris’s missing hair to his previous hairline which effectively meant making half a head of hair makeup a full head of hair.

'Placing the expander in the correct position and inflating it enough so that the scalp would move to the right position without bad scars or wasting any hair took careful planning.

'I know that it was a pretty tough six months for Chris but it is great to see his self confidence as restored as his hairline.'

The balloon was gradually filled with 950ml of liquid through a tube inserted over Mr Stoyanov’s right ear.

He said: 'I had to be really careful that I never hit my head so I certainly wasn’t allowed to work on any building sites because it was too risky.

'As the lump got bigger I tried to hide it with hats - which was a bit difficult because it was the middle of summer and it was boiling hot.'

After six months the skin was stretched from the back of Mr Stoyanov’s head and stapled in to place.

His hair started to grow back after just over a month and today Mr Stoyanov has a full head of hair.



The procedure means that he will never go bald - because the hair that is growing comes from the back of his head, an area that isn’t affected by hair loss.

Mr Stoyanov said: 'I had begun to think that I would be in and out of hospital forever and that I would have to buy an endless supply of baseball caps to hide my scalp from everyone.