Spirituality/Medicine Interface Project

Face Transplantation: The View from Paris, France

Authors: Laurent A. Lantieri, MD

Abstract

During the night of November 27, 2005, a 36-year-old woman disfigured by a dog was reconstructed by a transplantation of the lower part of the face including the nose and the lips. This first "facial transplantation" was a true medical performance. It answers the question that some had raised of the feasibility of such a transplant. However, the real scientific question of the usefulness of such a transplant is too far away to be answered.

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References

1. Andrew Lee WP. Perspectives on hand transplantation. Clinical Plast Surg 2005;32:463–470.
 
2. National Consultative Ethics Committee for Health and Life Sciences Opinion No 82, Composite tissue allotransplantation (CTA) of the face. Available at: http://www.ccne-ethique.fr/english/start.htm.