Shortage of Donors Will Hamper Facial Transplants

Facial transplants might have made significant advances recently, but post-death few would like to have their faces removed for transplant.

"People are still unsure about it," said Laurent Lantieri, head of the department of plastic surgery at Henri Mondor Hospital outside Paris. "People are thinking, 'Maybe I'm going to see my husband or my son or my sister walking the street after she's dead.' That's not the case."

Although still in its infancy, face transplantation has been performed by surgeons around the world on several disfigured patients. The procedure involves attaching a donor's facial tissue to reconstruct the deformities on the patient.

Dr. Lantieri conducted a face transplant last year on a man who was severely disfigured as the result of a facial tumour. The procedure, as well as its aftermath and the complications that arose, are documented in the medical journal Lancet.

Also reported is the Chinese case where doctors conducted a transplant on a man who lost part of his face when a bear tore it off in a 2004 attack. The 2006 surgery involved connecting arteries and veins, as well as repairing the man's nose, lips and sinuses.

"Facial transplantation could be successful in the short term, but the procedure was not without complications," says the article by Chinese surgeons at the Institute of Plastic Surgery at Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University. "However, promising results could mean that this procedure might be an option for long-term restoration of severe facial disfigurement."