Most medical practitioners especially those concerned with
surgery, consider the issue of facial transplants a rather difficult task to
accomplish successfully. However, in recent times, those with severe facial
disfiguration may have cause to rejoice, because facts that have been gleaned
from research and actual surgeries which show that facial transplants can be a
permanent solution to those suffering from issues related to facial
disfigurement.
The Lancet medical journal recently published a number of
cases where surgeons and other medical experts located in various areas across
the world, particularly in France and China, successfully performed facial
transplants on people with severely disfigured faces caused by disease and
injury.
In all face transplants and surgeries where the replacement of
tissue and organs is necessary, the problem of tissue rejection is always a
matter of serious concern and curtailing it is important in order to proclaim
the surgical process a success. Other than this, psychological issues that may
affect the future state of mind of the individual also have to be thought considered
as well.
In the two recorded cases in the journal, tissue rejection
was controlled and the rate of success of the operation compared to the
previous condition of the individuals involved was rather commendable.
One case was of a Chinese man who had been mauled by a bear
back in 2004 and had suffered severe facial injury as a result of this attack.
In 2006, he underwent intensive facial reconstruction and replacement surgery.
Some of his facial arteries and veins had to be reconnected and reconstructive
surgery was carried out to fix his sinuses, nose and lips. In order to ensure
that the probability of tissue rejection was reduced as much as possible, he
was given a cocktail of four different drugs. These drugs also helped in the
prevention of infection from occurring after surgery.
The second case documented was of a surgery which was
carried out in France and which involved the reconstruction and restoration of
a face that had been disfigured by a tumor known as neurofibroma. Various
stages and kinds of surgery had to be carried out on the individual involved, a
29 year old man. Prior to the surgery the patient was unable to feel his face
due to the severe neurological and facial damage caused by the tumor, but a
year after he was able to regain sensation in his face.
In
both cases, the medical practitioners involved were of the opinion that there
is great promise in the area of facial transplants that treat the issue of
severe facial disfigurement. However,
despite the fact that the procedures involved seem promising, experts are of
the opinion that further research may be required in order to prevent some of
the complications that may possibly occur due to such surgery from occurring.
A third case involved a French woman named Isabelle Dinoire
who underwent her transplant in November 2005.
Her face was severely disfigured in an attack by her dog. Doctors
reported that she experienced two episodes of rejection, but recovered slowly
and steadily.
"Our case confirms that face transplantation is
surgically feasible and effective for the correction of specific
disfigurement," Dr. Laurent Lantieri and colleagues at the Henri-Mondor
hospital outside Paris were quoted as writing.
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