First Face Transplant

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Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday November 30, 2005 @05:11AM 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."

9 of 446 comments (clear)

Ethical concerns? by Eric+Smith · 2005-11-30 05:13 · Score: 5, Insightful

What ethical concerns?
A live person is missing a face. A dead person doesn't need theirs any more. Where's the problem?
And how could the "psychological impact" be worse than not havin a face? The patient is going to "look different" no matter what is done.
1. Re:Ethical concerns? by Darkon · 2005-11-30 05:17 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  A live person is missing a face. A dead person doesn't need theirs any more. Where's the problem?
  
  From the article:
  
  "Where donors would come from is one issue that would have to be considered. "The transplant would have to come from a beating heart donor. So, say your sister was in intensive care, you would have to agree to allow their face to be removed before the ventilator was switched off. "And there is the possibility that the donor would then carry on breathing."
2. Re:Ethical concerns? by Pudusplat · 2005-11-30 05:18 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  You obviously did not RTFA. The donor cannot be dead for this transplant to be successful. The donor would supposedly be someone close to death on life support. The surviving relatives of the "near deceased" would have to give the go-ahead to rip off the face of their beloved, assuming they will no longer need it. This could presumably lead to problems if a miraculous recovery of the donor happened or could adversly affect the donor's family if they see the face of their relative on someoene else's head. Those are the ethical concerns.
  
  --
  "If you put butter and salt on it, it tastes like salty butter." -Terry Pratchet, on Popcorn.
3. Re:Ethical concerns? by darkmeridian · 2005-11-30 05:28 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Technically, face transplants are not medically necessary. The surgery would definitely make the person feel better, but it is not life-saving such as heart, liver, lung, or kidney transplants. The side effects of immunosuppresants are still quite severe and perhaps life-threatening, since the immune system is getting shut down for the life of the patient. The question is whether a doctor can allow someone to take these risks for a non-life-saving procedure.
  
  Living donors are not a problem because they're brain dead. So cutting off someone's face is scary; do so while they're still breathing (via ventilator) is really creepy. Yet, we pull hearts out of living people already so what's the face?
  
  --
  A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
4. Re:Ethical concerns? by teknopagan · 2005-11-30 06:31 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  A "hybrid" face?
  
  What kind of gas mileage will she get on it?
  
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  The Russian Mafia will mod you down just to see if the Moderate button works.
Re:Best of both worlds by drinkypoo · 2005-11-30 05:20 · Score: 5, Funny

Now I can be good looking and smart!

Settle down, champ. They didn't say anything about a brain transplant.

--
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:Well, whose face did she get? by plover · 2005-11-30 05:22 · Score: 5, Funny

Well, at least John Travolta's thetans would be pre-cleansed...

--
John
Is there a doctor in the house? by DG · 2005-11-30 05:46 · 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
Psychological impact? by idommp · 2005-11-30 06:09 · Score: 5, Insightful

I grew up with one-quarter of my face missing in action. When I was two, doctors removed the upper left quadrant of my face including the eyelids and the skin down to the bottom of my nose. Twenty operations and fifteen years later I finally got working (but not very pretty) eyelids again. The person undergoing the face transplant has already suffered the psychological impact of loosing their original face and the impact of being treated like some kind of monster. The trauma of getting a different face can't possibly be any worse.