Full face transplants as in "Face Off" movie
http://www.observer.co.uk/u...
WooHoo, this would be great for those protection programs, with a new face you would never get found. Pity if the person you take it from is a criminal though...
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Surgeons are preparing to carry out the first full-face transplants for patients who are seriously disfigured.
A team of clinicians is being assembled by experts at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, who claim that new microsurgical techniques have made it technically possible to graft a new face on to another person.
The prospect of facial transplantation, in which a patient would undergo at least 10 hours of surgery to receive new skin, bone, lips, chin, ears and nose from a donor, may seem more akin to a science fiction plot. In the film Face/Off, John Travolta, playing a special agent, and Nicolas Cage, a master criminal swap faces using laser technology. The plot revolves around their new identities.
But the proposals are likely to go out for nationwide consultation next summer, once surgeons have proved that it is anatomically feasible. Plans for facial transplantations could go ahead only with full public and government approval.
The technique - and the considerable ethical barriers it faces - will be debated for the first time at the British Association of Plastic Surgery conference on Wednesday, with surgeons arguing that it could transform the lives of those disfigured by cancer, accidents or burns.
If the public could be won over, the new procedure could be only 18 months away, according to Peter Butler, a plastic surgeon. Over the next six months, he is conducting a number of studies to show that, anatomically at least, the transplantation is possible. New microsurgical devices, coupled with better anti-rejection drugs, have brought the transplant closer to reality.
Eight different blood vessels, four arteries and four veins, which provide the blood supply to the face, would have to be removed, or harvested, from the donor.
A separate team of surgeons would remove, or 'de-glove', the face, facial muscles, skin and subcutaneous fat from the recipient.
Once they had the new face, they would begin to attach the nerves that control movement and feeling in the face. Without successful nerve regeneration, transplantation would be useless. The blood vessels would also be connected to the recipient's vessels, with tiny, microscopic stitches.
Butler said: 'With the face, it would be a very select group of people who would be eligible for this: those who have suffered severe facial deformities from burns, cancer patients who have had facial surgery, or people who have been disfigured in accidents could benefit.
'It may seem an extraordinary concept, but it comes from a desire to help those who have to live with very serious deformities. If the reasons behind this are explained fully to the public, they may overcome their revulsion.'
But Butler is only too aware that there remains considerable public disquiet. He has carried out a survey among 120 people - some of them nurses and doctors - asking if they would consider donating their faces in the event of death.
Not one said he would be willing to donate his facial features. 'The ethical considerations here are very great,' he said. 'There would have to be a very full public debate.'
By netchicken:
posted on 27-11-2002 WooHoo, this would be great for those protection programs, with a new face you would never get found. Pity if the person you take it from is a criminal though...
<hr>
Surgeons are preparing to carry out the first full-face transplants for patients who are seriously disfigured.
A team of clinicians is being assembled by experts at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, who claim that new microsurgical techniques have made it technically possible to graft a new face on to another person.
The prospect of facial transplantation, in which a patient would undergo at least 10 hours of surgery to receive new skin, bone, lips, chin, ears and nose from a donor, may seem more akin to a science fiction plot. In the film Face/Off, John Travolta, playing a special agent, and Nicolas Cage, a master criminal swap faces using laser technology. The plot revolves around their new identities.
But the proposals are likely to go out for nationwide consultation next summer, once surgeons have proved that it is anatomically feasible. Plans for facial transplantations could go ahead only with full public and government approval.
The technique - and the considerable ethical barriers it faces - will be debated for the first time at the British Association of Plastic Surgery conference on Wednesday, with surgeons arguing that it could transform the lives of those disfigured by cancer, accidents or burns.
If the public could be won over, the new procedure could be only 18 months away, according to Peter Butler, a plastic surgeon. Over the next six months, he is conducting a number of studies to show that, anatomically at least, the transplantation is possible. New microsurgical devices, coupled with better anti-rejection drugs, have brought the transplant closer to reality.
Eight different blood vessels, four arteries and four veins, which provide the blood supply to the face, would have to be removed, or harvested, from the donor.
A separate team of surgeons would remove, or 'de-glove', the face, facial muscles, skin and subcutaneous fat from the recipient.
Once they had the new face, they would begin to attach the nerves that control movement and feeling in the face. Without successful nerve regeneration, transplantation would be useless. The blood vessels would also be connected to the recipient's vessels, with tiny, microscopic stitches.
Butler said: 'With the face, it would be a very select group of people who would be eligible for this: those who have suffered severe facial deformities from burns, cancer patients who have had facial surgery, or people who have been disfigured in accidents could benefit.
'It may seem an extraordinary concept, but it comes from a desire to help those who have to live with very serious deformities. If the reasons behind this are explained fully to the public, they may overcome their revulsion.'
But Butler is only too aware that there remains considerable public disquiet. He has carried out a survey among 120 people - some of them nurses and doctors - asking if they would consider donating their faces in the event of death.
Not one said he would be willing to donate his facial features. 'The ethical considerations here are very great,' he said. 'There would have to be a very full public debate.'