Face Transplants 101
Before more damage could be done, Travis, a local animal celebrity, was killed by police officers responding to the scene.
While Travis’ end was untimely, there is hope that Nash may one day recover and receive a new face, having been recently transferred to the Cleveland Clinic, the renowned hospital that conducted the United States’ first face transplant just a few months ago.
With fingers crossed, we here at AM wish for a speedy and successful recovery for Charla Nash and offer our readers a little insight into face transplants, the incredibly rare and complex procedure that Charla Nash may soon endure.
What are face transplants?As the name suggests, face transplants are procedures wherein some or all of a patient’s face is replaced. The reason for a transplant could be facial trauma, burns, diseases, or birth defects.
What types of surgeries are available for face transplants?Depending on the extent of the disfigurement and the availability of a donor, different techniques are available.
A face replant uses the patient as a self-donor. In 1994, 9-year-old Sandeep Kaur became the world’s first ever face transplant recipient when she lost her face and scalp to a grain thresher. Her parents raced to the hospital with her face literally held in a plastic bag and a surgeon managed to successfully reconnect the arteries and replant the skin.
Partial face transplant
A partial face transplant uses pieces of a donor's face to reconstruct a recipient's face. The world's first partial face transplant was carried out on November 27, 2005, in France on Isabelle Dinoire, after her face was ravaged by her pet Labrador. Using pieces of facial tissue from a donor’s nose and mouth, surgeons successfully grafted a triangular section of skin to Isabelle's face during a 15-hour operation.More about face transplants after the break...