h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3259773.stm

This raises some incredibly complex issues.

Since your face is the primary way that others recognise you (although that may not be so for online communities such as this one), how would your freinds and family feel about it? How would you feel about seeing someone else in the mirror? How might people who knew the donor feel if by some chance they saw you on the street?

I doubt if you ccould become someones double because our bone structures and so on are so different. What it does raise is the possibility of people with serious burns having the chance to have their faces rebuilt. Of course I could be cynical and wonder if it will all end up in a Beverly Hills clinic with ugly, bald rich people trying to buy a new youth.

My first thought is "Why on earth would you want a dead persons fact grafted on to yours?" I'm not entirely sure that this is medically justifyed.

This would involve the same risk as any other organ transplant, including kidneys, the patient would have to take anti rejection drugs for the rest of their life - there would still be a risk of rejection. Both in the actuely, which would be less of a problem as it would be in the few days after surgery when the face was covered by a dressing. However chronic rejection could still occure, the tissue dying sevearl years after the burns victim had got used to his or new face?

How many burns victims let alone people who just want to look like someone else would be prepared to do this?

When Gosho posed this question, I immediately thought of a case where a police officer was horribly burned in a car accident. I have no idea if he would be interested in this type of surgery, but I would imagine this is the type of disfigurement we are discussing here. If I looked like this, I don't know that I could stand the attention I would draw to myself if I went out in public. I would consider this surgery for myself if I could be assured that the tissue would not be rejected.

http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=96&did=777

What would happen in the case that the tissue is rejected?

Unless theface of your identical twin is transplanted onto you, then there is currently no guarentee that the face won't be rejected.

If it was rejected the transplanted tissue would die, and probably appear simalar to a gangreous limb - it would have to be removed.

Okay, but it would have to be replaced with something. You can't go around without skin. You can't amputate like you would a gangrenous limb.

Would it have to be another transplant?

I'm not entirely sure to be honest,that is what concerns me about it,it doesn't seem very thought through.

Hang ON I'm in the medical school computer cluster, I'll just do some research.

If this all worked out how long might it be before some freak was paying to have a leopards face pelt tranplanted on to their mug along with matching teeth caps?

I thought that the medics were looking at ways to grow people's skin in a laboratory, along with the fact that they can now grow things like replacement ears is a face transplant really necessary?

There are cases where this could be required, in burns etc. But say my husband had it done, I would go to kiss someone elses face. It would be the same person and I would hate to be shallow, but his face is such an important part of him. It would be very difficult to accept.

Would it be more difficult than adapting to the changes wrought by severe scarring from burns or other accident?

Of course if the victim's own skin is used for grafting, you can end up kissing their bum!

I think if you truely love someone you would learn, but it would be difficult.

Teasswill, isn't there a joke about a man who gets the skin graft from his bum, onto his burnt cheek, so he can get his mother-in-law to kiss his arse?!

Probably!

I imagine that any major change in the characteristics of someone you know well is hard to get used to. Alteration in personality would. I think, be harder to cope with than physical appearance.