2006-11-08 07:58:22 · 4 answers · asked by chatterbox0492 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
This has not actually started in the UK yet but is about to. Basically, a dead person's skin is taken to give an extremely disfigured person's face a more normal look. That is to say, it could be construed as the same as cosmetic surgery and it will not prolong life. I am on the organ donors list and, when I die, ( bearing in mind that I may save another person's life and someone much younger than me), my attitude is take my face too.
2006-11-08 10:36:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I only know of one of these having been done, when a woman had her face literally bitten off by a dog. (It was fairly recent, maybe a year or two ago. You can probably find news reports of this on line and some discussions about it.)
One of the most disturbing things (though unlikely) I can think of is if the loved ones of the donor (who is presumably dead) sees the face of the departed now 'alive again' on someone else's body. It would be shocking.
Actually, IIRC, from what I've read, the new skin would begin to conform to the bone structurebeneath it, so the new face would not stay looking exactly like it looked on the previous person, unless the bone structure was VERY similar, in chich case, they might already have looked similar.
A sensible surgeon would select a face that was as similar as possible to the original, to reduce the psychological shock and suffering to his patient.
There are probably other important points, but these are the ones I could come up with ottomh.
8 NOV 06, 2117 hrs, GMT
2006-11-08 16:14:16 · answer #2 · answered by cdf-rom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At the moment, I don't believe these are done, and I don't know if it's actually possible with the problems of rejection.
Were it possible, I would assume that they would occur between either two consenting donors, each receiving the other's face, or from a cadaever. The ethical problem would be in the possibility of one person assuming another's identity. Another ethical problem would be in performing surgery with a possibly high rate of rejection for purely cosmetic or vain reasons. Other than that, I'm not really sure.
2006-11-08 16:03:14 · answer #3 · answered by Deirdre H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Much like any other transplant. Most of your facial characteristics are determined by the underlying bone structure, not the tissue that lies on top of it. It is just a very complicated tissue graft.
The recipient would not look like the donor. (Forget the movie "Face Off" - it's fiction)
2006-11-08 22:46:57 · answer #4 · answered by Pangolin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋