The Issue of “Facial Appearance and Identity Transfer” after Mock Transplantation: A Cadaver Study in Preparation for Facial Allograft Transplantation in Humans

ABSTRACT

The authors have assessed the facial “appearance” of recipient cadavers after mock facial transplantation, the “appearance” of donor facial flaps following transfer to artificial head models, and the “appearance” of donor flaps after replantation back to the same cadavers. Based on the results of different types of facial flap transplantation, the issue of “identity transfer” is discussed.

Ten fresh human cadavers were dissected. In eight cadavers, the entire facial/scalp flap was harvested. Two cadavers served as recipients of the donor facial flaps. Two different types of artificial head models were used as the “recipients” for the harvested facial flaps. The facial appearance of the recipient cadavers after mock transplantation was a mixture of features of both the recipient and the donor. The appearance of the facial flaps mounted on the head models was close to the framework of the head models. When harvested facial flaps were transferred back to the original cadavers, the facial appearance was nearly the same as before transplant.

Based on this study, the authors will be able to discuss the variation in post-transplant appearance with potential candidates for facial transplant. The issue of correlating facial appearance with “identity transfer” will be difficult to assess until the authors' first facial transplantation is performed.

KEYWORDS

Face transplantation - identity transfer - composite tissue transplantation

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