The World's First Full Face Transplant

Dave Knott writes "A thirty-member Spanish medical team has achieved the world's first full face transplant. There have been ten previous similar operations, but this is claimed to be the first total transplant, replacing all of the face including some bones. The unnamed recipient originally injured himself in a shooting accident, and received the entire facial skin and muscles — including cheekbones, nose, lips and teeth — of a donor. The complex operation involved extraction of the donor's face, followed by removal of the jaw, nose, cheeks and parts of the eye cavities. Then the medical team took all of the donor face's soft tissue, including musculature, veins and nerves. In order to transplant the face, the medical team has to connect four jugular veins, extract bones and join all the musculature and blood vessels. The recipient has had a chance to see himself in the mirror, and is reportedly satisfied with the results. It is unknown whether he now looks more like John Travolta or Nicolas Cage." The pictures and videos in the linked articles are all computer-generated at this point, so the squeamish need not worry.

Comments

How many spaniards does it take to change a face?

[Anonymous Coward]

30

Re:The Results?

[maxwell demon]

And the before picture of the donor (I don't think I want to see the after picture there).

The donor?

[urusan]

Where did they get a spare face? Faces are rather hard to come by.

Re:The donor?

[spun]

A donor, it said. Pay attention. Where do you think they get organs and shit for transplants? Dead people with donor cards.

Uh, who could possibly need a shit transplant?

Re:The donor?

[spun]

Whoa. I learn something new and disgusting every day. Thanks Internet!

Re:The donor?

[spun]

Okay, now this is more along the lines of what I was trying to set up. See, I provide the funny lead in, someone else makes the punch line. But a big 'thanks!' to all those corny, nutty folks who felt compelled to let us all know that, yes, there really is such a thing as a shit transplant. I'm sure we all feel relieved knowing that, as if a big load has dropped off our, uh, shoulders. Lets all try to do our duty and keep each other informed. But this thing is getting pretty long now, and I feel pooped.

Re:The donor?

[jdoverholt]

I'm only slightly surprised that such a transplant exists, but why are so many Slashdotters so familiar with it?

Injured his face in a shooting accident ?

[unity100]

it seems that dick cheney is still about.

Damn it, Dick!

[Anonymous Coward]

The unnamed recipient originally injured himself in a shooting accident...

Dick Cheney needs to stop shooting his friends in the face.

How on Earth does he even get friends in the first place?

Re:Damn it, Dick!

[Locke2005]

This was always my reaction to Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. Every week for 12 years, one of her closest friends would get knocked off, and she would have to step in and solve the murder. And yet she still had friends! You'd think after a while people would figure out that being her friend was hazardous to their health, wouldn't you? Personally, I would have suspected she was offing them herself and framing other people for it pretty early on.

So, what exactly do you think the reaction down at the country club is like when Cheney rolls in and asks, "Hey! Anybody wanna go huntin'?"

Here you go

[spun]

I think this is what you're looking for.

I saw that movie

[Monkeedude1212]

Whats it called again? The one with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta... Where they like, take the guys face off, and then his face is off, so then they take the other guys face off, and put it on the other guys face. And then the guy without a face is really put off by it, so he gets the doctor to take the first offed face and put it back on him. So their faces are swapped. And then they have an epic face off with a climactic finish.

God I wish I could just remember the name of that movie...

Re:I saw that movie

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, I know what it was called! Total Recall!

Re:I saw that movie

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it was called "The Face That Couldn't Stay On."

Re:I saw that movie

[Anonymous Coward]

The one with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta...with a climactic finish.

They were young and needed the money.

Re:I saw that movie

[roman_mir]

Thank you, captain obvious and humorless, I salute you and award you the Redundant Cross of Missing The Point.

Why would you need one?

[snarfies]

It begs the question: What's wrong with your faaaaaaace?

Hint: never lend someone the money for this op.

[petes_PoV]

as you won't recognise them afterwards to get it back.

Re:Yeah but what does the donor look like?

[hldn]

What does the donor look like now, and what are they going to do about not having a face?

he's going to get a face from another donor. duh.

Re:The Results?

[Undead Waffle]

I don't think that would sit well.

Re:Yeah but what does the donor look like?

[MaskedSlacker]

Is this the Bernie Madoff Organ Donation Agency by any chance?