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First Face Transplant

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the doctors-facing-off dept.

mriya3 writes to tell us the BBC is reporting that surgeons in France have performed the first ever face transplant. The medical team, led by Jean-Michel Dubernard, transplanted live tissue to a 36-year old woman whose face had been destroyed by a dog. From the article: "It has been technically possible to carry out such a transplant for some years, with teams in the US, the UK and France researching the procedure. [...] But the ethical concerns of a face transplant, and the psychological impact to the patient of looking different has held teams back."

5 of 446 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ethical concerns? by Eric+Smith · · Score: 4, Interesting
    What if a person commits a crime and uses this surgery to escape identification
    There's all sorts of cosmetic surgery they can already use to do that, without resorting to a face transplant. A face transplant is very risky, and there aren't that many surgeons in the world qualified to do it, so it's unlikely that someone can get this done without a lot of publicity.
    and/or conviction.
    If they are identified, I don't see how a face transplant will help them avoid conviction.
  2. Re:I'm confused.. by Have+Blue · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The face isn't just an organ, it's a large part of your personal identity and how you distinguish yourself from the rest of the world. It's the only part of the body that is almost universally exposed to general scrutiny, and it's how you are known by others. I'm no psychologist, but I can imagine there's a difference between looking in a mirror and saying "that used to be me", no matter how mangled you are now, and looking in a mirror and saying "that is someone else".

    The ethical implications would come from the process of removing the identity from someone who may or may not be dead and effectively erasing the identity of the recipient when the transplant is complete and he looks like someone different.

  3. Re:Ethical concerns? by SilverspurG · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The ethical problem is with the doctor. Existing technologies are sufficient to reconstruct the face without the need for immunosuppressants for the rest of the recipient's life.

    Transplanting a face is a PR stunt and MAYBE an academic exercise. It should not be standard treatment procedure. The article, by citing "10,000 burn patients in the UK", is trying to trump this sort of thing up to standard procedure.

    --
    fast as fast can be. you'll never catch me.
  4. Is there a doctor in the house? by DG · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Given that skin cells are constantly being shedded and regenerating, wouldn't this (slowly) transform back into the recipiant's original face?

    Or would a skin sample from the transplant area show different DNA for all time?

    I'm genuinely curious. Is there a doctor in the house?

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
  5. Re:I'm confused.. by Bastian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm no psychologist, but I can imagine there's a difference between looking in a mirror and saying "that used to be me", no matter how mangled you are now, and looking in a mirror and saying "that is someone else".

    Luckily, a lot of your appearance comes not from the soft tissue of the face, but from the underlying bone structure. A person who gets a face transplant wouldn't have the same visage as they used to have, but they wouldn't have the visage of the donor, either.

    I would assume that the "looking in the mirror" problem would be no greater for a face transplant recipient than it would be for a person who experiences some other massive change to their face, such as whatever damaged it so much in the first place or reconstructive surgery.