New row breaks out over face transplant (Donor and recipient had both attempted suicide)

The Guardian ^ | Monday December 5, 2005 | Kim Willsher

[RegulatorCountry]

"All of the objections come from the psychology crowd who didn't get to make a buck from this poor woman."

Oh, they'll be making more "bucks" in the aftermath of this, so I don't really think it's so much about filthy lucre.

[OB1kNOb]

I guess one could say that the surgical team and the medical ethics professor are having a "face off".

[isom35]

cage and travolta had a bit of a row when they swapped faces.

[heartwood]

I think the transplant patient will have very much her own face, because the bone structure underneath is the same - there will be some difference in the fullness of the lips and the cartilege of the nose, but that could even be surgically changed. The question is, will she see it as her face.

Very troubling, that the donor actually committed suicide (brain dead = successful attempt) and that the donee was injured as a result of her attempt. That attempt may have been an impulsive reaction to a crisis, rather than the result of long-term suicidal thinking. But an impulsive, self-destructive person is not a great transplant patient.

And I hope the dog has been put down.

[drlevy88]

Note: next time get a cat.

That has to be disheartening, that if you should pass out cold for some reason your own pet dog will devour your face. Where is all the storied canine loyalty?

[muggs]

Note: next time get a cat.

You have obviously never met my cat.

[armymarinemom]

Sounds like she is a poor candidate for transplant. Hopefully there is a lot more to this story than is being reported.

The medication regimen for transplant patients isn't a walk in the park. If you have ever working on a transplant team you know that it takes dedication to stay well. It requires a desire to stay healthy instead of enjoying health. I have seen a patient die due to noncompliance with anti-rejection therapy and it wasn't pretty. She went through a dark period and paid dearly.

[drlevy88]

Well, except she wasn't dead, but sleeping.

[Calpernia]

ping

[Calpernia]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1534088/posts
Woman Who Had Face Transplant Doing Well-(Pet was Labrador)

[nicmarlo]

suicide attempts

plural?????

[Calpernia]

"The donor, whose name has not been released, was said to have been of a similar age and from the same area as Ms Dinoire. She had hanged herself. Permission for the transplant was given by her family after she was declared brain dead."

[Semper Paratus]

I recall a Twilight zone episode where the recipient took on the persona of the donor.

[RikaStrom]

Note: next time get a cat.

Humm.... actually, a cat'll usually munch on you faster than a dog will.

[Calpernia]

The woman who hanged herself was 'brain dead'.

This story is stinking more and more.

[DJ MacWoW]

Note: next time get a cat.

That has to be disheartening, that if you should pass out cold for some reason your own pet dog will devour your face. Where is all the storied canine loyalty?

Actually, from what I've read, the victim took an overdose of pills and the dog had been following her around, trying to keep her awake. When she collapsed is when he chewed on her trying to wake her up.

[nicmarlo]

This story is stinking more and more.

I read about the woman who attempted suicide, the one from who they retrieve part of her face and nose cartlidge, etc., and that they had received her family's permission to do this.

But, I still agree with you....something's rotten in Denmark.....what is the likelihood of a brain dead woman having been found....and the coincidence of skin tissue thickness, coloring, etc.?

[Calpernia]

Face transplant woman 'owes her life to dog after suicide attempt'
Summary from multiple countries, from articles in English

The AP reported that doctors did not try normal reconstructive surgery first on the woman, violating the advice of a French government ethics panel, a surgeon familiar with the case said Thursday.

http://newsblaster.cs.columbia.edu/NBproxy.cgi?sentence=238

Isabelle Dinoire whose nose, lips and chin were replaced in 15 hours of surgery on Sunday, has recovered sufficiently to be able to eat small mouthfuls and drink fruit juice, her doctors said yesterday.

http://newsblaster.cs.columbia.edu/NBproxy.cgi?sentence=239

LYON, France (Reuters) - A 38-year-old French woman was recovering well after receiving the world's first partial face transplant, and doctors said on Friday she was happy with her new face and had thanked them for their work.

http://newsblaster.cs.columbia.edu/NBproxy.cgi?sentence=240

The surgery had been approved by the hospital, the government, and the state transplant society, and the medical team was beginning the process of obtaining donor tissue, said Dr. Costantino .

http://newsblaster.cs.columbia.edu/NBproxy.cgi?sentence=241

Surgeons in France have for the first time performed a partial face transplant, a surgeon who led one of the two teams that performed the operation said yesterday.

http://newsblaster.cs.columbia.edu/NBproxy.cgi?sentence=242

The recipient of the transplant was a 38-year-old woman who had been severely disfigured in an attack by a dog, said the surgeon, Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard of Lyon.

http://newsblaster.cs.columbia.edu/NBproxy.cgi?sentence=243

[Calpernia]

And bone structure of the face.

And from what I read about the face transplants from my husband's journals, the tissue works best if the donor is not physically dead.