Italians Perform Groundbreaking Full Jaw Transplant

statikuz writes "According to BBC News, Italian surgeons have performed the world's first complete jaw transplant. In eleven hours, the surgeons replaced a man's cancer-ridden jaw with a bone from a deceased donor; the donated jawbone was sterlized and stored at -196C to fight rejection, and "The current patient is said to be doing well.", says Professor Giuseppe Spriano, leader of the surgery team at the Regina Elena hospital in Rome."

Units...

[addaon]

-196 Celcius being better known as 77 Kelvin, familiar to us all as the temperature of liquid nitrogen.

Re:Units...

[Henry V .009]

Yeah, what are the odds, you know? Out of all the temperatures to choose from, they just happen to pick that one...Truth is truly stranger than fiction. Obviously, cosmological fine tuning of physical constants make the molecular bonds of Nitrogen just right for them to go liquid at exactly the same temperature as they were keeping this guy's jaw. Absolute proof that there is a God. You heard it here first.

Facial recognition

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet another example of a weird case where biometric systems can break down.

Re:Facial recognition

[ToastedBagel]

This is not laughing matter, but when I read your post, I had to laugh.

Why organic?

[avalys]

Why does a jawbone need to be organic? Couldn't an artificial one be made of titanium or something?

Re:Why organic?

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly; Ti and other compounds need special treatment at the attachment points, while 'dead' bone still provides a better connective matrix, most likely.

There was progress in using (dead, sterilized) coral for similar reasons, IIRC. However, dead people are likely less of an endangered resource, and already come in the rough shape you'd want.

Re:Why organic?

[HaloZero]

Adamantium! Adamantium plated-bone structure. Go ahead, punch me, I dare you. Espicially with the jaw. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

[Whack!] 'Ow!' Damnit.

Re:Why organic?

[cperciva]

We're not that good at building implants yet. The human body is a rather hostile environment, really; bone has the advantage that it is continuously repaired.

we focus our medical funding

[SHEENmaster]

on other artificial implants.

Re:Why organic?

[Sir Holo]

Why does a jawbone need to be organic? Couldn't an artificial one be made of titanium or something?

It can. My dentist was installing metal (I think titanium) jaw part replacements into guys wounded in Vietnam. The problem is that the thermal and mechaincal properties of bone and titanium (or any metal) are very different. This leads to a lot of pain with slight temperature changes, mechanical shock like chewing, and so on. It's best to replace body parts using materials that are as similar as possible to the original. You can't get much closer that bone-for-bone.

Re:Why organic?

[jaysones]

Sure, I've seen one say "I'm a friend of Sarah Connor" before.

Meh...

[happypizzaguy]

I saw this in James Bond movies 20 years ago! Try and get patients to not reject a steel jaw. Then I'll be impressed.

Re:Meh...

[n1ywb]

steel rusts

...not quite so simple

[danro]

steel rusts

I have a surgical steel barbell in my mouth (through the tongue actually) for four years and counting... and guess what?
No rust.
It all depends on the quality of the steel, as this example proves.

But I guess a steel jaw would be pretty heavy and uncomfortable though.

Can I just make one comment ?

[MerlynEmrys67]

Jawbone of an Ass ???

Oh never mind, I'll leave you back to your regularly scheduled drivel

Feeling

[MattCohn.com]

How far did they go? Were they actually able to re-attach the nerves? Does he have feeling in his jaw?

Re:Feeling

[MillionthMonkey]

When you lose your jaw, and then you get a second jaw from a cadaver, everything you do with that new jaw seems more satisfying than before, because you realize how ephemeral your lower jaw really is. At any moment you might lose it again, so you want to enjoy every moment to its fullest.

I bet right now this guy is chewing on the sweetest, juiciest Red Man chewing tobacco he's ever tasted!

And, in Hollywood....

[wowbagger]

Jay Leno is sleeping with a loaded shotgun.

Just in case.

Re:And, in Hollywood....

[fthomas64]

Come on, mod. That's funny.

Yet..

[NegativeK]

"The current patient is said to be doing well.", says Professor Giuseppe Spriano.

When questioned for comments, the patient would not respond.

Also in other news...

[stienman]

Italians Perform Jawdropping Full Ground Transplant

-Adam

italy

[capnjack41]

What's the deal with all of these crazy and groundbreaking types of surgery going on in Italy? I think someone there was working on cloning, some other people did other stuff (no other good examples are coming to mind at the moment). Do they give better funding for that type of research there?

Re:italy

[MonTemplar]

Probably part of a secret Italian masterplan to construct a team of surgically-enhanced soccer players capable of nailing the French come the next European Cup... :)

Re:italy

[Pii]

The cloning works great except for one thing...

They keep using Alberto Tomba [albertotomba.it] as the source material!

Well...

[Masa]

This is a quite jaw-dropping news, I would say.

-196°C

[X86Daddy]

...the donated jawbone was sterlized and stored at -196C to fight rejection...

Bringing all new meaning to frost-bite.

*rimshot* Thanks, I'll be here all week.

Clarification

[DjMd]

This is a bone transplant. (the article isn't clear, but you can't store living tissue at -196C, 77K you would kill the cells...)
So issues regarding nerves and sensation are not a factor...

It must be a pain to get a jawbone that matches size, it has to meet the tempomandibular joints on either side....

where do I sign up?

[phrantic]

I've got all the skin for a chin, well actually enough for two or three chins, but I seem to have miss-placed the bone that was supposed to come with it.

Metallic bodyparts

[Alcohol Fueled]

I will be glad when we're able to make metallic bodyparts as full replacements for lost limbs, fingers, etc. Maybe one day, we'll be able to replace damaged body parts with Terminator like metal parts. How cool would that be to lose an arm, but replace it with an almost indestructable artificial limb? I'd just hate to see the guy on the news who is rushed to the emergency room because his metal hand crushed his johnson... Ouch.

this actually IS VERY COOL

[_outcat_]

Has anyone ever seen facial prostheses? Some people, suffering facial cancers or other disorders, must have portions of their faces removed and replaced with prosthetics. The face is a complex BITCH to operate on (IANAdoctor, but I play one on Slashdot! :).

The face carries a strong social attachment with it. Ever see a victim of a facial cancer without a prosthesis? Imagine a face without a nose. Without a cheek. Terrifyingly sad realities for some people. How can one socially interact when such a huge part of their very presence is so wrongly missing?

That doctors can actually replace diseased facial parts is an ASTOUNDING new breakthrough for medicine. If this turns out to be successful, some people will have amazing new hope.