A large group of doctors and surgeons from Cleveland Clinic’s Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute have completed the first-ever “80 percent facial transplant” in the United States.
Many details about the patient have been withheld for privacy reasons, but the press release states that the patient had suffered severe facial trauma. Many critical components of the patient’s face were restored. Surgeons precisely integrated facial structures like the lower eyelids and nose, while also replacing different complex tissues like skin, nerves and arteries.
Dr. Maria Siemionow is the director of plastic surgery research and team leader for the operation. She has spent a large part of her career researching and developing such a procedure. Dr. Siemionow was able to lead a group of professionals from a variety of areas, including bioethics, surgery, anesthesia, opthamology, dentistry and others. A cooperative approach of this magnitude is the only way to succeed in such a complex surgical procedure.
“No other aspect of our anatomy is capable of even a fraction of the complexity of motion and emotion allowed by the muscles and tissues of the face” says Siemionow.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, she describes
her motivation for such difficult work; “Patients with facial disfigurement have very difficult challenges in society. We hope that one day we may be able to help the tens of thousands of patients who are quietly suffering.”
