- Reader's advisory: The links at the foot of this page go to images which may distress some readers.
This week's news included the story of "Oscar", a 31-year-old Spaniard who is the recipient of a major face transplant. This involved composite tissue transplantation - including, bones, cartilage, teeth and skin.
A very good article in The Australian newspaper summarises the ethical issues involved in such a procedure.
One that has certainly exercised my mind is the issue of a perceived "identifiable" transplant of an external organ(s), rather than the completely anonymous transplant of an internal organ.
Even though this is, in dealing with the face, a fallacy - the recipient's underlying facio-maxilliary structure will alter the new face's identity over time - nonetheless there is an entirely understandable issue of whether some families of prospective donors will find this too confronting:
"Transplants are laden with meanings that have profound consequences for individuals and their social relationships," he [Professor Paul Komesaroff] says. Surely, the transplant of something so drenched in meaning as a face will heighten the trauma.
Certainly the ethical issues need to be discussed and analysed. And i sincerely hope that transplant co-ordinators and educators will recognise this issue and tackle it.
But a person who is living with terrible disfigurement from accident or birth defect would want these issues to be resolved firmly.
- Leigh Dayton, new face, new future, new issuers: full-face transplant, The Australian, 31st July 2010.
Reader's advisory: The links which follow go to images which may distress some readers.
News articles
Worlds first full-face transplant man reveals new look, Xinhua.net, 27th July 2010
Rachael Brown, Transplant patient reveals new face, AM program, ABC [Australia] Radio, 27th July 2010 (includes sound file of program)
Images
World's first full face transplant gives Spaniard a new look, Washington Post, 26th July 2010
Video
First "full" face transplant man appears in public, EuroNews, 26th July 2010
Sky News
- This YouTube video was uploaded by Sky News [UK]
