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United States Science

The New Face Lift 306

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the so-much-for-biometrics dept.
RiotXIX writes to tell us that US surgeons plan on moving forward with their newest experimental medical practice, a face transplant. Doctors have already succeeded in making this practice a reality with cadavers donated for medical research and will soon begin interviewing a shortlist of patients to determine who, if anyone, will be first up for this procedure. From the article: 'The chance it will work is around 50% and experts have expressed safety and ethical concerns about the procedure. The recipient would have to take powerful anti-rejection drugs for life, which carry considerable long-term health risks, says the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which formed a working party to look at the issue earlier this year.'
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The New Face Lift More

The New Face Lift

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  • Ugh (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:18PM (#13597897)
    Face/Off was about the worst movie ever. What makes people think the reality will be any better?

  • Face Off 2: Electric Bugaloo (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I can see it now...

  • Woo (Score:4, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:18PM (#13597910) Homepage Journal

    I want Cowboy Neal's face, there's room to grow into it.

  • Movie about this? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:19PM (#13597913)
    I saw a movie about this once where one guy takes his face/off and changes it with another guy who also takes his face/off. Anyway, they end up chasing each other around for a while and eventually face/off to fight.

    I think it was called "Two Guys that Traded Faces".

  • Anyone know... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheOtherAgentM ( 700696 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:19PM (#13597914)
    if Brad Pitt is a donor? I could really use the sex.

    • Re:Anyone know... (Score:2, Informative)

      by Avery18 ( 915833 )
      If he is, give me a call. I'll be sure to help ya out on your needs. ;)

    • Believe it or not... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Black-Man ( 198831 )
      I once knew this hottie who was actually turned on by this guy who's face was disfigured by 3rd degree burns and the numerous skin grafs associated.

      BTW, he was burned while commiting arson. Go figure....

    • Re:Anyone know... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Johnboi Waltune ( 462501 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @03:35PM (#13598614)
      I don't think Brad Pitt would be very interested in having sex with you. So, your best bet is to wait until he has passed out from the anesthesia.

      Good luck!

    • Re:Anyone know... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Seumas ( 6865 )
      I think this is pretty cool, as long as it isn't used for cosmetic reasons (reconstructive is another thing altogether).

      Actually, let me clarify - I don't have a problem with cosmetic surgery whatsoever - as long as people who have cosmetic (non-reconstructive) surgery don't have children.

      Nobody wants to be with an ugly person. It's a biological and evolutionary thing. It's wrong to take an ugly person and cosmetically make them beautiful so that someone will procreate with them in the long run, continuing

  • let me be the first to say (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mrfibbi ( 695943 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:19PM (#13597916)
    WHAT THE HELL? Then I thought "oh, okay, it's april fools." Then I remembered that no, it wasn't, and it was just National Talk-Like-A-Pirate-Day. I'd be a little weirded out if someone started walking around with my dead wife's face. But that's just me.

  • Finally... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mrRay720 ( 874710 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:19PM (#13597922)
    ...science useful for the slashdot masses.

    What? You know you guys are ugly as sin, admit it!

    (hey it's a joke!)
    • So who is it useful for, or rather, who is on the 'shortlist that is being drawn up' of candidates?

      I'm guessing..

      - The Rich
      - The Criminally Insane
      - The Rich & Criminally Insane
      - The Rich & Criminally Insane with long criminal records and a need to disappear

      Great for their needs thoughs. You transplant a face from person A to person B and the success (cough, survival) rate is 50%...

      • Re:Finally... (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Fenresulven ( 516459 )
        Personally I'd guess burn victims, but hey, that's just me.
      • Well, as for rich and criminal, there was that one Mexican drug lord who tried to create a new identity by getting plastic surgery and massive liposuction... and there were a few complications with the surgery. Truly a great loss to humanity.

        Anyone know whatever happened to his plastic surgeon?

  • Now THAT'S a side effect... (Score:5, Informative)

    by KingSkippus ( 799657 ) * on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:19PM (#13597923) Homepage Journal

    The summary doesn't make this clear, but this procedure is intended only for severely disfigured people due to burn scars and such.

    The possible side effects are pretty scary, though. My favorite quote is from the CNN Article [cnn.com]:

    "[Critics] paint the frighteningly surreal image of a worst-case scenario: a transplanted face being rejected and sloughing away, leaving the patient worse off than before."

    And I used to think that anal leakage was a scary side effect, that's nothing comparing to a soughing face! Thank god I'm not in a position for now where I have to make a decision like that, but it sure is a high price to pay for looking "normal" again.

  • Been done before... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jnadke ( 907188 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:20PM (#13597931)
    Michael Jackson had this done years ago.

  • Anti-Rejection drugs? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Create an Account ( 841457 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:21PM (#13597936)
    I have the feeling that someone that has had a large part of their face burned off in a bad fire isn't going to be too worried about having to take drugs for the rest of their lives. Ethical? Ask the people who need this kind of surgery if THEY think it's ethical.

    • Re:Anti-Rejection drugs? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:23PM (#13597959)
      > I have the feeling that someone that has had a large part of their face burned off in a bad fire isn't going to be too worried about having to take drugs for the rest of their lives.

      Why bother with the drugs? You'd think they'd already be used to rejection.

      /one ticket, aisle seating please

    • Re:Anti-Rejection drugs? (Score:5, Informative)

      by j-cloth ( 862412 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:31PM (#13598030)
      Anti rejection drugs aren't just a little pill you pop like your morning Prozak. They are taken to stop your immune system from doing what it's supposed to do (i.e. treat the transplanted flesh as an infection and attack it). Good if you don't want to lose your newly trasplanted face or organ, not so good if you want to be able to fight off a cold or whatever bug your kid brings home from school. Anti rejection drugs are getting better, but they are not trivial.
      If the dilema is between the above and a heart or kidney that will keep you alive, then I think it's pretty simple for most people. If it's between this and a new face, I think there is more deliberation to be done than what you suggest.
      • I guess it's a question of "quality of life". If you can't show your face in public without women fainting or men puking (or vice versa), then this is probably worth while. And if they end up dying from it - so what? If they're willing to make that choice, then more power to them. At least they're trying to get a normal life back.

        And then, of course, it becomes a question of degree. When is it appropriate to risk your life to look better? Only when you're Elephant-Man hideous? Or when you have a pi
    • How dare you inject logic and reason into this blantly anti-plastic surgery rant.

    • Skin grafting already exists for these types of cases, which takes skin from one part of your body and puts it on another. And if the skin comes from you, it shouldn't be rejected. If most plastic surgeons can reconstruct most faces I don't see why face transplantation is all that interesting for anyone who needs it for burns.

      Now, if you are burned over a significant portion of your body I could understand that, but if you have 3 degree burns over more than 50% of your body you have a lot of more things t

      • "Reconstruction" should be in quotes (Score:5, Informative)

        by Create an Account ( 841457 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:56PM (#13598259)
        I worked (very briefly) with a guy that had had "reconstruction" over 100% of his face from 3rd degree burns. In his case:

        successful "reconstruction" = "no longer oozing."

        He had no lips, and only kind of had eyelids, he had to constantly roll his eyes to keep them lubed. No nose, just one deformed hole in the front of his head. He was, in a word, hideous. Not his fault. He was a good guy. But his quality of life was in the toilet. This was in the late 1990s, so maybe they're a little better now, but if they can do a complete replacement - more power to them. I would be happy to be a donor once I'm gone. They already get my liver, heart, and eyes. If someone can use this ugly mug, they're welcome to it.
    • People with large burns such as this would greatly benefit a surgery such as this, not just form an ethical point of view.

      Scar tissue from the burns constantly contracts. It can become such a problem that people can have slurred speech (since their ability to move their lips has been greatly reduced by the tightening of the skin). There are traditional methods attempt to fix this (use under-skin saline balloons to grow new skin in some part of the body, and then graft that skin onto the burned areas), but

    • I think we need to consider the drugs we're really talking about here, and what the risks are. This isn't like having to take asprin every morning to limit one's risk of heart attack. These are anti-rejection drugs...also known as immunosuppressants. When your body rejects a transplant, it's your immune system at work, seeing the organ (or in this case, face) as an invading organism. So the drugs that help prevent rejection do so by impeding your immune response.

      Not to make it sound too dramatic, but im

    • Re:Anti-Rejection drugs? (Score:5, Informative)

      by SilverspurG ( 844751 ) * on Monday September 19, 2005 @03:36PM (#13598623) Homepage Journal
      I have the feeling that someone that has had a large part of their face burned off in a bad fire isn't going to be too worried about having to take drugs for the rest of their lives
      Speaking as someone who does have 3rd degree burns over 40% of his body, including 1/2 of the face and the full neck, I really have to say...

      NOT A FSCKING CHANCE IN HELL would I ever go for a transplant from a cadaver. Traditional techniques have been available, and improving, for 30 years which can do a much nicer job without having to take immune blockers for the rest of my life and which use my own skin. There's also just the creepy bit about wearing a cadaver's face... Kinda like Slayer's old tune,"Dead Skin Mask".

      The only reason why anyone may volunteer for this is that the doctors involved are (unethically, I might add) attempting to bait patients in by offering the first few operations free of charge. This is such a lowlife technique. How about, instead, we fix the medical and insurance obstacles for people who would like to have genuine reconstructive surgery?

      For example, in my case, I can't afford to go for reconstructive surgery even though I actually NEED it. The scar tissue doesn't stretch as I grow, and the mobility of my arms, hands, and neck is severely limited. My waist is the same way. Imagine wearing an ultra-tight girdle 24/7/365 with no chance to take it off, ever. Do you know what that does to digestion after any meal larger than a Triscuit? Can you imagine what it's like to put on weight and not be able to adjust the girdle size? The waist size for my scar-tissue girdle is about a 32-34 (180 lbs). My current waist size is 36 @ 210 lbs. I'm 6'1", I'm not overweight... but I cannot convey to you that daily life is, at best, uncomfortable.

      Why don't I go in for surgery? Who will pay my bills for the 30 days that I'm completely incapacitated and the 4 months to relatively complete recovery? Donor sites for skin grafts are EXTREMELY painful and take a long time to heal. My insurance company won't... this is a "preexisting condition" which, according to them, doesn't directly affect my Quality of Life or my ability to do my job.

      The problem is not reconstructive technology. The problem is money-grubbing insurance agencies and the predominant wage-slave status of anyone making less than $100k/year.

  • Ugly faces only? (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheConfusedOne ( 442158 ) <the.confused.one ... m ['il.' in gap]> on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:21PM (#13597944) Journal
    The recipient would have to take powerful anti-rejection drugs for life


    That sounds a bit cruel, maybe they just need to drink a lot instead.

  • ID Theft? (Score:4, Funny)

    by matth ( 22742 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:23PM (#13597958) Homepage
    How does this go with ID-Theft? Yup.. that's me.. see I look like me in this ID.... eeek!

  • Obvious Questions (Score:3, Funny)

    by rlp ( 11898 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:24PM (#13597969)
    When will Michael Jackson sign up for this? And what will he look like next?

  • Not so fast... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Teppy ( 105859 ) * on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:24PM (#13597970) Homepage
    I think that it would be more responsible to first try this procedure on animals, like monkeys or pigs. For instance, maybe they could transplant a pig's face to a monkey. They might even market these to insane rich people as "exotic pets."
    Another idea I had that would have a similar market is cosmetic surgery for dogs.

    Update: Just on a whim I googled "cosmetic surgery for dogs" and found this [nwsource.com]. I'm gonna go throw up now.

  • The recipient would have to take powerful anti-rejection drugs for life
    As opposed to, say, death by loss of face.


    Arrrrr!

    • Re:Who's a good candidate for this? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by macemoneta ( 154740 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:41PM (#13598137) Homepage
      The recipient would have to take powerful anti-rejection drugs for life

      Where "for life" is defined as being "until medical science can figure out a way around the problem". Chimeras have distinct DNA in parts of their body, yet somehow their immune systems have recognized the tissue as not requiring an immune response. Eventually medical science will figure out how to "introduce" new tissue to the body to prevent rejection.

  • Good for burn victims (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MrJynxx ( 902913 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:25PM (#13597974)
    I suspect this procedure would be great for people who have had extreme burns to their face.

    One thing to note are the anti-rejection drugs. My uncle whose kidneys both failed, had to get one from my father in the early 90's (91 i think) and had to take anti-rejection drugs. Well, the drugs eventually gave him colon cancer (approx. 10 years of heavy use) and passed away 2 years ago. But, without the kidney transplant he would have never made it past 1992.

    It will be a trade off for these people.. potential to live a long life disfigured or a shorted life bearing a new face. Tough call?

    MrJynx
    • I remember a news story about a girl born without a face.

      I don't remember the medical name of the condition, where basically the bone structure of the face fails to develop during pregnancy, but such a procedure might help such people after the underlying bone grafts are complete.

  • anti-rejection drugs (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tachikoma ( 878191 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:26PM (#13597982)
    . . . So can I take those and get laid every time I hit on a girl?

  • Hah (Score:2, Funny)

    by Sheepdot ( 211478 )
    Dr Siemionow told Associated Press: "You want to choose patients who are really disfigured, not someone who has a little scar."

    I nominate this guy [wikipedia.org].

  • I See Dead People (Score:5, Funny)

    by FrankDrebin ( 238464 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:31PM (#13598029) Homepage

    Doctors have already succeeded in making this practice a reality with cadavers

    Let me get this straight. Doctors have "succeeded" in attaching one dead guys face to another dead guys skull. No problems with rejection, I take it. And the recipient hardly looked any worse than before the transplant, I mean, considering the bastards were dead, I'm guessing the failure rate was not very low.

  • Answer: Cloning (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rfc1394 ( 155777 ) <Paul@paul-robinson.us> on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:31PM (#13598043) Homepage Journal
    Someone once pointed out that if we can ever develop cloning successfully we can forget the use of anti-rejection drugs, blood type checks, and other such things. If you get a transplant from your own clone, everything you're getting is yours, the blood type and every bit of dna is a perfect match, the rest of your body will not know the difference and thus "will welcome our new clone masters."

    A really Brave New World.

    • no no, that's "The Island", a completely different movie. this article should only contain jokes about "face/off".

      Thanks :)
      • And "The Island" is ripped off an earlier (and much, much worse) movie named Parts: The Clonus Horror. It's a lot more make-fun-able... I actually found The Island slightly entertaining, while Parts is definitely a piece of crap.

        The MST3K version is good, though.
  • Is already a BIG problem.. China sells the organs of condemmed prisoners - a LOT of innocent people I am sure suffer this.. It could happen here as well if jobs keep disappearing.. If anyone tells you otherwise, they don't know much about power and the powerless.. and how frequently the powerless lose anything of value they have to the rich and powerful..

  • Longer article here: (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM .20050914.wface0914/BNStory/specialScienceandHealt h/ [theglobeandmail.com]

    The "consent form" says that this surgery is so novel and its risks so unknown that doctors don't think informed consent is even possible.

  • Pre-transplant therapy... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Grayden ( 137336 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:33PM (#13598061) Homepage
    It puts the lotion on its skin...

  • How about... (Score:4, Funny)

    by slobber ( 685169 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:34PM (#13598072)
    The recipient would have to take powerful anti-rejection drugs

    As far as rejection goes, I've heard there have been a good progress with transplanting pig's organs instead, so why don't we... Oops, never mind

    bad joke, bad joke

  • per Wired (Score:5, Insightful)

    by moviepig.com ( 745183 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:36PM (#13598083)

    Wired [wired.com] quotes a release-form the recipient must sign:

    Your face will be removed and replaced with one donated from a cadaver, matched for tissue type, age, sex and skin color. Surgery should last 8 to 10 hours; the hospital stay, 10 to 14 days. Complications could include infections that turn your new face black and require a second transplant or reconstruction with skin grafts. Drugs to prevent rejection will be needed lifelong, and they raise the risk of kidney damage and cancer. After the transplant you might feel remorse, disappointment, or grief or guilt toward the donor. The clinic will try to shield your identity, but the press likely will discover it.

    No free lunch...

  • Relatively new application of old ideas (Score:4, Insightful)

    by erroneus ( 253617 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:36PM (#13598084) Homepage
    Transplanting organs and even external body parts has been an ongoing practice for quite some time. Clearly, they are making small improvements as time goes by and a variety of details have been added as well. But I have to hope there isn't too much research being done into this.

    In my mind (which is a weird place to be at times) I think the future of medical technology is ultimately in regeneration of damaged or missing tissue. In previous medical articles mentioned here, stem cell research has already enabled paralyzed people to walk again and other improvements are just around the corner I'm sure. In addition to that, the research where genetic manipulation of rats have resulted in entire body parts regenerating after having them removed.

    Ultimately, this is advanced forms of healing which is where almost everything in the way of research should be directed, in my opinion, since healing is what the medical practice is all about.

    (And yes, I recognize the need for disease and cancer research as well ... it goes without saying. And I also recognize the fundamental expansion of knowledge of human anatomy and how it works is also a worthy benefit of the activities discussed in face transplant technologies.)

    And on an asside, replacing a face will not make one person look like another. For that, you'd have to manipulate the bones under the skin and muscle to really make modifications that make a difference.
  • I understand that disfigurement, even cosmetic, can be debilitating physically and psychologically.

    While loss of facial skin is disfiguring, it can be treated by transplants from the patient's own body, which is much safer.

    I think the "face transplant" they are referring to involves also replacing ligature and muscles, which would be of great use -- imagine not being able to chew, create facial expressions, or speak. I am curious, however, if the costs and risks are truly worth it. I think there are

    • While loss of facial skin is disfiguring, it can be treated by transplants from the patient's own body, which is much safer.

      It is actually suspected that the transplant procedure may be safer in the long run due to the incredible number of surgeries that traditional facial reconstruction requires. For example, a person with severe facial mutilation may need 20 surgical procedures or more to completely graft his own buttock skin onto the damaged areas. Each surgery carries its own risk of infection, comp

    • Re:Why this? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Forbman ( 794277 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @06:26PM (#13599885)
      Have you ever known a burn victim?

      Skin grafts do not do very much. I think that what they do is provide enough temporary covering to allow scar tissue to grow in place anyways. And, besides, the scar tissue that does grow is not all that flexible at all, either.

      The "face transplant" only involves taking off the dermal layers of the face, no facial muscles (dermis, epidermis and subcutaneous layer).

      They are looking for recipients that have not suffered too much muscle or nerve damage, and still have a good amount of the blood supply available (obviously). Did you not read the article?

      If there ever was a legitimate cosmetic surgery, this is one.

  • The Cleveland Clinic- (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Alex P Keaton in da ( 882660 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:41PM (#13598145) Homepage
    This is done by Dr. Robert White. He has done a lot of experiments where he transplanted animal heads, and they stayed alive for a while (hours).
    I know this story sounds like cosmetic surgery, but it isn't. (Yes, I would like a more handsome face)It is for people who need it medically, at least for now...
    Dr White's son, Mr. White was my Eighth grade Latin teacher at Shaker Heights Middle School, I kid you not.
  • I guess this is a good time to test the old saying:

    Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes right to the core.

    Still, you have to be pretty desperate to say "sure, give me some random dead person's face, mine sucks".

  • New definition (Score:3, Funny)

    by Carnage Pants ( 801975 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @02:51PM (#13598224)
    I guess the word "faceplant" no longer solely refers to me tripping while going upstairs/while going downstairs/walking outside/walking around in my dorm room.
  • I think some of these guys should take some time off and watch some movies, then they would realize that building Skynet, virtual reality, and face transplants almost never end happily, just usually in bad sequels!

  • I for one ... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Agarax ( 864558 )
    ... welcome our new face swapping overlords.
  • From where else could we be given arbitrary unfounded reasons for setting back progress for decades to come?

    Bioethics: Making mongers of monkeys since Roe v. Wade.®

  • Wasn't there a horror movie about a guy that receives a convicted serial killers have after he's executed by the death penalty or something? If my memory serves me correctly, this guys hand starts to take over this receivers soul and he then starts killing people on a mad rampage. Just imagine what would happen if the same thing happens to the face!?!?!

    Scary!
  • Great: now we can reject our own faces, rather than letting other people do it.

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