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Italians Perform Groundbreaking Full Jaw Transplant

Posted by timothy on from the jawing-is-a-verb-after-all dept.

statikuz writes "According to BBC News, Italian surgeons have performed the world's first complete jaw transplant. In eleven hours, the surgeons replaced a man's cancer-ridden jaw with a bone from a deceased donor; the donated jawbone was sterlized and stored at -196C to fight rejection, and "The current patient is said to be doing well.", says Professor Giuseppe Spriano, leader of the surgery team at the Regina Elena hospital in Rome."

14 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Units... by addaon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    -196 Celcius being better known as 77 Kelvin, familiar to us all as the temperature of liquid nitrogen.

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    I've had this sig for three days.
    1. Re:Units... by Henry+V+.009 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, what are the odds, you know? Out of all the temperatures to choose from, they just happen to pick that one...Truth is truly stranger than fiction. Obviously, cosmological fine tuning of physical constants make the molecular bonds of Nitrogen just right for them to go liquid at exactly the same temperature as they were keeping this guy's jaw. Absolute proof that there is a God. You heard it here first.

  2. Facial recognition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yet another example of a weird case where biometric systems can break down.

  3. Why organic? by avalys · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why does a jawbone need to be organic? Couldn't an artificial one be made of titanium or something?

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    1. Re:Why organic? by cperciva · · Score: 3, Informative

      We're not that good at building implants yet. The human body is a rather hostile environment, really; bone has the advantage that it is continuously repaired.

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      Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
    2. Re:Why organic? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Exactly; Ti and other compounds need special treatment at the attachment points, while 'dead' bone still provides a better connective matrix, most likely.

      There was progress in using (dead, sterilized) coral for similar reasons, IIRC. However, dead people are likely less of an endangered resource, and already come in the rough shape you'd want.

    3. Re:Why organic? by Sir+Holo · · Score: 5, Informative

      Why does a jawbone need to be organic? Couldn't an artificial one be made of titanium or something?

      It can. My dentist was installing metal (I think titanium) jaw part replacements into guys wounded in Vietnam. The problem is that the thermal and mechaincal properties of bone and titanium (or any metal) are very different. This leads to a lot of pain with slight temperature changes, mechanical shock like chewing, and so on. It's best to replace body parts using materials that are as similar as possible to the original. You can't get much closer that bone-for-bone.

  4. Meh... by happypizzaguy · · Score: 3, Funny

    I saw this in James Bond movies 20 years ago! Try and get patients to not reject a steel jaw. Then I'll be impressed.

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    "When all else fails, there's always delusion." -Conan O'Brien
  5. And, in Hollywood.... by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Funny

    Jay Leno is sleeping with a loaded shotgun.

    Just in case.

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    www.eFax.com are spammers
  6. Yet.. by NegativeK · · Score: 3, Funny

    "The current patient is said to be doing well.", says Professor Giuseppe Spriano.

    When questioned for comments, the patient would not respond.

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    This statement is false.
  7. Also in other news... by stienman · · Score: 3, Funny

    Italians Perform Jawdropping Full Ground Transplant

    -Adam

  8. Re:Feeling by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    When you lose your jaw, and then you get a second jaw from a cadaver, everything you do with that new jaw seems more satisfying than before, because you realize how ephemeral your lower jaw really is. At any moment you might lose it again, so you want to enjoy every moment to its fullest.

    I bet right now this guy is chewing on the sweetest, juiciest Red Man chewing tobacco he's ever tasted!

  9. Well... by Masa · · Score: 3, Funny
    This is a quite jaw-dropping news, I would say.

  10. -196�C by X86Daddy · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...the donated jawbone was sterlized and stored at -196C to fight rejection...

    Bringing all new meaning to frost-bite.

    *rimshot* Thanks, I'll be here all week.