Dr. Karel Fahoun, D.Sc. Major Czech plastic and aesthetic surgeon

It is very sad information that there is no more with us our friend and great plastic surgeon and one of our most important aesthetic surgeons, Dr. Karel Fahoun. I had the unrepeatable luck that I could get to know, as a medical student, his exceptional talent and extraordinary skills almost four decades ago at the Department of Plastic Surgery in Prague, Vinohrady.

Even later, after his arrival from fellowships in Scotland and England, he became the Head of Plastic Surgery Unit at the Cosmetic Institute in Prague in 1971, and I had a great possibility to obtain valuable advices and experience in aesthetic surgery, which was not possible anywhere in this country or abroad. As the first in the Institute, he introduced the concept of “same-day surgery”, which is now a common practice. He also introduced several new surgical techniques, which were included in his postgraduate thesis and later doctor thesis, which he defended in 1987 and as the first and yet as the only he obtained the title of Doctor of Medical Sciences in Aesthetic Surgery.

As a consultant, he operated in major state and private clinics in London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Budapest, Moscow and Vienna. During his publication activities, he published around 50 specialized and popular papers and he was a member of editorial boards of several specialized popular journals. Since 1995, he worked as a consultant and surgeon in Thomayer hospital in Prague.

The great credit and honour of Dr. Karel Fahoun, D.Sc. among the specialists is also well documented by the situation during his lecture about aesthetic surgery that took place within the XVIII. Educational Symposium in Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery with International participation in Prague in 2013 when the whole congress hall at the ILF Hotel was applauding standing.

Dr. Karel Fahoun, D.Sc., was the holder of Honorary membership of the Czech Society of Plastic Surgery and in 2013 he obtained a honorary medal of the Czech Medical Association of Jan Evangelista Purkyně for credit in the development of plastic and aesthetic surgery. Dr. Karel Fahoun, D.Sc. died after a severe disease on 29. 1. 2015. Let´s honour his memory.

Assoc. Prof. Jan Měšťák, M.D.

Department of Plastic Surgery

1^st Medical Faculty, Charles University in Prague, and Bulovka Hospital, Prague

Czech Republic