Media Information

Discovery Channel with John Lydon

In July 2004, the Discovery Channel arrived at the office of Dr. Aldo Guerra. They were accompanied by John Lydon, A.K.A. "Johnny Rotten", the former lead singer of the 80's rock band the Sex Pistols.

Over the years, Johnny had developed a great interest in the way some animals are used in surgery and medicine. In this segment, Johnny and the crew of Discovery wanted to see how plastic surgeons used leeches in clinical practice. It turns out they had heard of the work our group had been doing in breast reconstruction.

Dr. Guerra and Johnny (with certificate) in the surgical suite at the Magnolia Surgical Facility.

Discovery Channel had studied our last five publications on the use of flaps to reconstruct beautiful and natural looking breasts. However, the producers of the show felt it was more appropriate if we could show a case related to facial reconstruction. Such an opportunity arose when one of our patients volunteered to be featured on the show after his nasal reconstruction. Our patient had been recently diagnosed with nasal skin cancer and required an extensive removal procedure and reconstruction. Leeches were used to relieve one of the flaps used to reconstruct the nose of venous congestion. Because of this, the flap went on to survive and our patient now lives with a beautifully reconstructed nose. I let Johnny apply the leech, but ultimately I was impressed by Johnny's knowledge of these small creatures. He knew of Hirudin, an anticoagulant secreted by these animals that has been recently used to reverse the effects of a heart attack.

Because of his wealth of knowledge on the subject, the AB Guerra Plastic Surgery Clinic certified Johnny as an official Hurido Medicinalis Specialist. On the other hand, Johnny was kind enough to autograph my copy of his autobiography and to pose for pictures with me and the rest of the staff at the Magnolia Surgical Facility. This Discovery Channel segment was played in the United Kingdom last year and was extremely popular.