Woman undergoes face transplant in Cleveland

[undeterred]

A woman being treated at the Cleveland Clinic has an almost entirely new face following the most extensive facial transplant ever performed, the medical center said Tuesday. The surgery was the first face transplant in the U.S. and the fourth in the world.

Few details about the patient have been released in advance of a news conference scheduled for today. About 80% of the patient's face was replaced with skin and muscles harvested from a cadaver.

The family of the patient has asked that her name and age not be released so she can remain anonymous, the clinic said. It was not clear when the surgery took place.

Dr. Maria Siemionow, the Cleveland Clinic plastic surgeon who performed the marathon procedure, is well known among microsurgery specialists, and colleagues were quick to praise the achievement. They said face transplants would become routine in the coming years.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-facetransplant17-2008dec17,0,3430994.story

I can understand why someone who has been disfigured would want to do this, but its got to be weird getting a dead person's face. :shrug:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. I think it's gotta be weird, too

And my dad got a kidney transplant, and I'm an organ donor.

Personally, I think everyone should automatically be entered as an organ donor. It should be opt out, instead of opt in.

[undeterred]

2. This just takes some getting used to.

Most people are ok with the idea of harvesting major organs for transplant but are unaware how many other parts can be used. Even things like long blood vessels and bones can be "re-used". Some people are willing to donate everything but the eyes.

I worked with a woman who was given a kidney by her uncle (living donor), who was a nephrologist.

[silverojo]

12. My aunt was a tissue donor

She got a posthumous certificate of thanks from the U.S. Surgeon General.

In return for the gift of tissue donation, it's common for the deceased and their family to be "paid" with cremation at no charge.

Cremation is more environmentally sound than burial, and my aunt wanted to be cremated even before she heard about the tissue donor program. So it was exactly what she wanted.

She was always the most giving, generous person...and to think she has even been generous in death makes me all the more fond of her.

Rest in peace, Betty.

[northofdenali]

15. The skin is THE "major organ"! n/t

[underseasurveyor]

16. And it's the largest organ.

Though some men may insist otherwise ;-)

[northofdenali]

18. ....

:rofl::thumbsup:

[Maru Kitteh]

24. Everything you just mentioned, including skin IS an organ.

Bones are organs.
Blood vessels are organs.
The skin is the largest organ you have.


BTW on the topic in general - After transplantation, subsequent operations and therapy the patients face will bear much more resemblance to her own, pre-disfigurement face than the donors face, by far. I don't see why this is any more "weird" than any other kind of transplant.

[pacalo]

7. My dad had a kidney transplant, too. How's your dad doing?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

20. He died six years ago

[pacalo]

22. I wouldn't have shared this if your dad were still living, but mine died

26 years ago, 5 years after his oldest brother gave him a kidney. The anti-rejection medication left him susceptible to diseases & he technically died of skin cancer. :(

So sorry your dad had to go through that, too. :hug:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

23. Mine technically died of cancer, too

:hug:

[Lorien]

13. One of the cool things about being an organ donor

aside from the good it does, is knowing that some part of you will continue to live. I've heard of organ recipients who develop cravings for certain foods and new likes and dislikes after their surgery-and they later discover that those likes and dislikes belonged to the organ's original owner! Hey, you could be making a Dem out of a die hard repug. ;-)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

19. Yeah, it's weird how that happens sometimes

[JVS]

3. I wonder if anyone who knew the person whose face it used to be will notice?

Wouldn't that be creepy!

[Stardust]

5. Unless her bone structure is identical to the donor's, the "face" won't look the same.

Read that somewhere a while back...

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. I've got cadaver tendon holding my AC joint together.

Doesn't feel weird, feels a whole lot better actually.

David

[Mind_your_head]

6. Why would someone need/undergo a facial transplant in the first place? n/t

[anigbrowl]

9. Many reasons

Seriously, I assume she was horribly burned or mauled. That's why they've been done so far.

[Mind_your_head]

10. Awwww....MJ is *messed up* for sure

I still like(d) his music.

He "contributed" - greatly.

Peace,
M_Y_H

[madeline_con]

11. Two right off the bat... cancer or burns. n/t

[Xithras]

25. I knew a woman who was shot in the face by an ex-boyfriend.

Her nose, her right cheekbone, and a big chunk of her upper jaw were pulverized by the shotgun blast, but it was angled enough so that it didn't kill her. His aim was a bit better when he turned it on himself a few seconds later.

I never saw her after the shooting (she's now a 34-ish year old shut-in who lives with her mother and only goes outside with her face covered), but several people who did described it to me. It's like she has a hole where half her face used to be. She can't speak properly, she can't eat any foods that aren't blended first, and the word most commonly used by people who visited this once-beautiful young woman was "horrific". Her ex may not have killed her when he shot her about ten years ago, but he certainly ended her life.

I'm sure she'd be more than willing to accept a face transplant if it were available to her.

[davidinalameda]

8. didn't any of you see the movie Face/Off

with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta

looks like fact is following fiction, to an extent

[northofdenali]

14. But can we use it on Sarah?

She'd look more authentic with Ann Coulter's face.............

It does seem odd, but if one wills one's body to science, or as a donor - what advances can be made! Imagine a child born with Agent Orange inflictions (cleft palate, etc.) whose face cannot be "repaired" but may be, by the skill of the surgeon, "replaced"!

Science inspires. It's also freakin' scary sometimes!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

17. Unfortunately, the donor was Joan Rivers

One step forward, two steps back

[Vinca]

21. ROFL - that's a joke worthy of Jay Leno. nt