French surgeons perform the world’s first partial face transplant on a 38-year-old woman in Amiens. Photograph: AP
I know that facial disfigurement is no laughing matter, and humor isn’t the point of this post. I’m just curious as to how much of this comes from a desire to help others, and how much from a desire to do the fancy procedures headlined elsewhere?
A British hospital is set to give the go-ahead for four British patients to undergo face transplants in what will prove a major landmark in surgery.
The ethical committee of the Royal Free Hospital in north London is expected to announce on Wednesday that it will approve the first operations for a full-face transplant. The recipients have not yet been selected but several potential candidates have already been seen by doctors.
The move marks the final hurdle for the team of plastic surgeons and specialists at the hospital who have spent the past 12 years investigating the possibility of face transplants.
Let’s hope this doesn’t become a procedure only done for showmanship purposes. There are people who can really use this.
Having said that, should there be any limits? Cadaver scalps for baldness, anyone?
The article mentions the expected approval ot the operation by the hospital’s ethics committee, but it doesn’t give any details of what the potential ethical concerns actually are. Offhand, I can’t see any ethical conflicts in face transplantation. Maybe it’s just a case where every new type of operation has to clear the eihics committee first.
Now it’s time for companies like Mary Kay or Revlon to start competing to be the cosmetics chosen by most face transplant patients. As soon as there is a really attractive result, there will probably be an endorsement deal.
Part of the ethics problem may be the confidiantiality issue. Donors are usually not identified unless they want to be, but having someone
think you are their dead cousin could be a problem. Bone structure
should keep people from looking too much alike, but i’m sure the fear is still there.
A future issue could be the face of the famous or infamous. Bad enough that plastic surgery can do such superb look alikes, I’m sure the abillity to do real face transplants will be tempting to some hero worshipers.
And scalp transplants for the bald? My cousin, who lost her scalp to cancer surgery? Skin and tissue transplants from other areas just aren’t the same. She’s also lost a fair amount of facial tissue. Plastic surgery is better today. When my uncle lost a good piece of his face to cancer, he became a recluse because the kids would run and scream when he went outside.
There will also be the same dillemas of portioning out the available faces to those who need them. And the need will become more known as the technology becomes available. jh
Thanks, Joanne, your family experience gives real illumination to some of the issues involved. I think the mere fact that facial transplant patients are willing to assume the lifelong risk and sacrifice that anti-rejection drug therapy involves is a pretty powerful statement of how strongly they perceive their need for this.
Good point Gary – I just hope the procedure doesn’t become too common – sounds like something a Bond villain (or, to pick a real-world example, Osama bin Laden) could use – just think, you bust out of the joint, change your face, and the cops can’t find you …
Bruce, as devious as my mind is, I didn’t even think of the terrorism angle – lol. That will be the new game of this century, a la “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” Everything can be related to terrorism.
I have much to learn from you, Master 😉
There are many people that use silicon prosthetics to cover up facial damage. These are usually to cover small defects like the loss of a nose or ear. These appliances are expensive, and must be used with make up to give a more natural appearance. It’s a pain, an many people just becomes recluses.
Anyone who had spent time at a burn unit would not even need to ask your question, John. We’re talking millions of patients who could benefit from a partial or full facial transplant in the developed world alone.
The main question an ethics committee will ask is whether the risks outweigh the benefits. That will make it less likely a child or a person with a chronic disease will be approved. However, someone like the French patient, Isabel, should be able to meet the rigid regimen of transplant patients, which includes taking medication several times a day for life, as well as monitoring one’s body for signs of rejection.
It is a very valid question. (BTW, I filed this, not John.)
I sincerely hope this is used for those that need it most. That doesn’t mean it will.
(Your own example, the French patient, is a poor one if you want to curry sympathy for the victim.)