Brave New Face

Brave New Face
picture: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn9010/dn9010-1_650.jpg


In researching skin grafts, I thought it was important to begin to look at the different types of grafts. An area that is beginning to gain more attention is the area of face transplants. One of the first partial face transplants took place in France after an awful dog bite. This article is looking at the considerations in planning a full facial transplant.

This procedure is very complicated and difficult. Not only does the skin need to be considered in terms of the HLA’s (Human Leukocyte Antigens) but it also needs to be considered in terms of skin tone, age of the donor, and the sex of the donor. It is much more complicated than your normal organ transplant. The procedure in total can take a long time, almost 15 hours, and the transplantation is difficult due to the large number of nerves in the face. Success in a facial transplantation relies on the growth and healing of the nerves in the face, which cannot be evaluated till about nine months after the procedure. Depending on how well these nerves heal impacts how well the patient maintains mobility in their face in the long term after the procedure.

This article also raises the question of the emotional impacts of a procedure like a full facial transplant. For example, a full facial transplant would result in someone else’s face being put on the patient’s face. This could potentially be very traumatic for the patient, and difficult to deal with. The procedure is psychologically difficult, not only for the patient, but also for the family. It may be difficult for the family to see a different face on their loved one. The idea is that in time the patient will eventually be able to recognize and identify with their new face as if it is their own.

Along with this the patients runs the risk of the transplant being rejected. It is also probable that any patient that undergoes a complete face transplant would be overwhelmed by media attention. This could be very stressful for the patient.

The research that this doctor is doing before this procedure is very extensive, and involves more than just skin tone, and age, but also the best way in which the skin can be attached to as effectively as possible provide mobility to the face, especially around the ears and lips, which in the past have yielded poor results.

In terms of health care, this type of procedure could be interesting, as the length of the actual procedure and the immunosuppressant drugs following the procedure may make this a potentially expensive procedure. It could be interesting to see the involvement of insurance companies or government aid in a procedure like this, even if it is a more rare procedure.

I am interested to find out if this procedure ever was completed, seeing as the article was published in 2006, and if so, if the procedure was successful.