Jump to content
Science Forums

Recommended Posts

Posted

Someone I know read that the first face transplant was as success somewhere and I am ratehr curious as to where it took place and who did it and why...ect.

 

If an one can find info on it such as an artical or what have you....I would greatly appriciate it.

 

Op5

Posted
Docs in Louisville performed the first successful hand transplant a while back. Maybe that's what you're thinking of, DM.

There was a story in the news a while back about a guy in the UK who got a hand transplant. Everything turned out fine, he had muscle control, nerve feedback, the whole nine yards, and everybody was all gaga about the whole thing. Up to about a year later, when the guy went back to the doctors and asked them to please amputate the hand 'cause he never could get over it psychologically that he's using somebody else's hand. I wonder what the psychological effects will be of a face transplant?

Posted

Thats why I was soo interested. The only place to harvest such a thing as a face i would think...is a cadavor!!!!

 

So if anyone stumbles across the artical of any info...please let me know...I myself am still looking.

 

Op5

Posted

I don't think it's happened yet...

Scientists have carried out face transplants on dead bodies donated for medical research. Scientists at the Utrecht University and the University of Louisville are seeking approval for an experimental face transplant to be performed in the Netherlands. In 2004 the Cleveland Clinic became the first institution to approve this surgery. Dr. Siemionow's group there is searching for its first patient.

I don't know though...

Posted

Is it actually possible to 'transplant' a face? Won't it just be a facial skin transplant?

 

What makes a face? I'd say the underlying bone construction, muscle layout, etc. You can take anyone's face and transplant it on your face and you'd still look mostly like YOU, because of the underlying shape.

 

(I think...)

Posted

When you transplant a face you take everything from the cadavers face except the musculature and plop on your patients face with skin, fat, and veins all there. The patient then has to take immuno-suppressant drugs for the rest of their life to keep the patient's system from refusing the new face.

 

The procedure is generally used for extreme cases of burn victims, and the drugs increase chances of getting diseases and cancer.

 

Not good... :rolleyes:

Posted

The fact is that this is the field of science and medicine that I want to go into. Cosmetic/Reconstrutive surgery. The replacing/tranplanting of a face is like dark mind said. Just a replacement of the tissue and underlying adapose tissue.

 

The new face would have to go under some reshaping a agree to match the bone structure. But I am sure you would look for a cadavor with similar structres to make it easier.

 

All in all, it just might be a nip and tuck for the new face to fit.

 

Op5

Posted

I'm gonna have to agree with that one, and people generally don't just put their face up for transplantation surgery :naughty:.

 

Actually... yeah they do. Never mind. If you're an organ donor, your face is fair game :rolleyes:.

Posted

From the website I referenced earlier...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/26/style/face.php

 

The procedure has been a theoretical possibility at least since 1999, when surgeons at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, performed the country's first hand transplant. That operation has been duplicated about two dozen times now, and the experience has given surgeons like Siemionow the courage - hubris, critics say - to think the unthinkable.

 

And as for the long-term drugs necessary, this was also in the same referenced article...

 

In a series of innovative experiments in laboratory rats, Siemionow's team has managed to induce long-term tolerance to hind-leg transplants with a drug regimen lasting only seven days. If similar results can be achieved in humans - many previous efforts along these lines have failed - the advance will alter the calculus behind transplants, making them feasible for a much greater number of patients, including those with facial disfigurements.

 

And it talks about the actual procedure as well, including exactly what they remove, and what they leave. Pretty interesting article, actually. Not my usual cup o'joe, but still worth the read.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...