Review Face Transplantation: where do we stand?

Face Transplantation: where do we stand? (François PETIT et al.) page 2 The recent clinical cases of hand and composite tissue allotransplantation (CTA) opened a new era in the practice of reconstructive surgery. Some have suggested that face (allo)transplantation could be the next step to benefit patients whose conditions can not be addressed by conventionnal techniques of reconstructive surgery using autologous tissues. The authors intend to review the current status of science regarding the prospect of human face transplantation. The main issues fall into three categories: (1) the surgical challenge of the procedure, specifically regarding vascular viability and functional recovery of the graft; (2) the risks of side-effects from life-long immunosuppression necessary to prevent graft rejection; and (3) the ethical debate and the consequences of the procedure on the population. Although face transplantation could one day b