The Miracle of Facial Transplant Surgery
March 29, 2012 6:57 PM   Subscribe

Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez is one of the world's foremost facial transplant surgeons. He and his team performed a 36 hour facial transplant surgery, the most extensive one to date, on a man who lost his face in a gun accident 15 years ago. The transplant included a donor tongue and set of teeth. In honor of the advancements modern medicine has made in facial transplant surgery, CBS News recently ran a gallery of facial transplant recipients. (Warning: disturbing, yet hopeful, images inside.)
posted by GnomeChompsky (21 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
There was an excellent New Yorker story about face transplants recently (print only).
posted by grobstein at 7:02 PM on March 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


Are we at "indistinguishable from magic," yet?
posted by eugenen at 7:09 PM on March 29, 2012 [4 favorites]


Absolutely incredible. I love modern medicine!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:27 PM on March 29, 2012


I love modern medicine as well, but pet chimpanzees horrify me
posted by Redhush at 7:32 PM on March 29, 2012 [8 favorites]


Good job; I hope this is accessible for people who've been burned or are the survivors of acid attacks.

Please somebody donate a face to this guy. Warning, video may cause unending nightmares that only cease when you die; especially if you are a diabetic with poor blood sugar control.
posted by BrotherCaine at 7:40 PM on March 29, 2012


Please somebody donate a face to this guy . Warning, video may cause unending nightmares that only cease when you die;

Wow, that is correct. I can't believe it's possible to walk around like that without infections and other kinds of big trouble.
posted by eugenen at 7:47 PM on March 29, 2012


Please somebody donate a face to this guy… I can't believe it's possible to walk around like that without infections…

I’m going to skip that video.
posted by migurski at 7:51 PM on March 29, 2012 [10 favorites]


Please somebody donate a face to this guy. Warning, video may cause unending nightmares that only cease when you die; especially if you are a diabetic with poor blood sugar control.

Unfortunately Mark Tatum died in 2005.
posted by dd42 at 8:07 PM on March 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


Please somebody donate a face to this guy

A comment on the video says he died several years ago, so hold your face donations for a bit. (Now THAT would be a strange "please give" email chain letter.)
posted by nicebookrack at 8:09 PM on March 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


Dr. Rodriguez recounts the five years (YouTube link) he's worked with the recipient, Richard Lee Norris. This was a major logistical feat that required over 150 nurses and professional staff during a 72 hour period. In addition to the face, organs from the anonymous donor saved the lives of five other people.
posted by forward1 at 8:12 PM on March 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


Unfortunately Mark Tatum died in 2005.

Mea Culpa, I missed that. I actually saw the video a long, long time ago (and vividly remember it still), but forgot to check on his current status. Condolences to his family if they happen across this.
posted by BrotherCaine at 8:50 PM on March 29, 2012


The New England Journal of Medicine had a nice article a few weeks ago summarizing three cases with before and after photos. Unfortunately it's firewalled.

A number of years ago I had a patient who had lost about a third of his face, including his nose and an eye, to cancer. He had a prosthetic (partial) face which was really cool. He was fairly good-natured about it, although somewhat shy.
posted by neuron at 8:55 PM on March 29, 2012


This stuff is fascinating. Googling around I found this video of Mitch Hunter after his full face transplant. It's striking how normal he looks only a month after the procedure, but at the same time how uncanny it is that he is sitting there with what was clearly once someone else's face.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 9:24 PM on March 29, 2012


The work of the surgeons and medical teams is indeed incredible. I, however, am even more impressed that the recipients have found a way to go on. I don't know what I would do in a similar position. To lose not only your eyes, but everything else as well? And for those who can still see, to look in the mirror and see a face completely different from yours? People and their ability to adapt and cope are *amazing*.
posted by smirkette at 9:34 PM on March 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


1. It's amazing that surgeries like this are becoming possible.
2. Living life in need of a face transplant must be horrible beyond my comprehension.
3. I know that any new technology has a development period where being able to do it at all is the focus, and the pinnacle of the craft doesn't come right away.

I acknowledge those points. Still, if I were a recipient of one of these faces, I'd probably still be kind of bummed out that I'll go through life with a face that people might look twice at and be weirded out by. I guess I'd feel like I was an experimental subject for a procedure that was still far from figured out.
posted by lostburner at 10:43 PM on March 29, 2012


People can be unbelievable cruel to those who look unusual. In fact, it's possible that in our supposed age of "celebrating diversity" that Americans are more cruel than they were in the days before plastic surgery, when freak shows were popular entertainment. There seems to be a belief now that we all have an obligation to uphold some minimum aesthetic standard. I had a friend who had been in a car fire and whose face was covered with scar tissue, and people on the street would say things I found shocking and appalling to her, about she should get herself fixed up or stay home. Those who get facial transplants have to deal with such attitudes constantly, and getting a new face may decrease such negative attention only a bit. But there are benefits I find amazing, such as actually regaining a sense of smell. It won't stop other people's appalling reactions, but to be able to smell the flowers again must be a delight.
posted by DrMew at 11:01 PM on March 29, 2012 [5 favorites]


Amazing stuff, but exactly how did he damage his face in that way? The article says "gun accident", but doesn't explain further. Was he playing around with it and it went off accidentally? Having no experience with firearms makes it difficult to know what kind of thing could cause that specific facial loss.

Still +1000 for medical science. Awesome job.
posted by marienbad at 3:35 AM on March 30, 2012


GnomeChompsky: "Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez is one of the world's foremost facial transplant surgeons. "

I don't think there are many Facial Transplant Surgeons. I would imagine that every one of them is considered one of the world's foremost Facial Transplant Surgeons.

Not taking away anything from Mr Rodriquez or his team, just commenting
posted by 2manyusernames at 4:50 AM on March 30, 2012


I don't think there are many Facial Transplant Surgeons.

Doctor Nick from The Simpsons will do any operation for $129.95.
posted by colie at 5:51 AM on March 30, 2012 [2 favorites]


Yet docs still mess up Joan Rivers and "Big Ang"
posted by stormpooper at 6:07 AM on March 30, 2012


I believe Dr. John Woo is still the leading expert.
posted by kmz at 6:47 AM on March 30, 2012


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