First U.S Full Face Transplant

PoetsOfTheFall · #1 ● 03-22-2011, 02:56 PM

Last week, a US citizen became the second person in history to receive a full face transplant and he is the first person in the United States to ever undergo such treatment. Dallas Wiens, 25, of Texas, received his new face at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital after a family had donated a loved one’s tissue for the transplant. Included in the transplant were a forehead, nasal structure, nose, lips, skin, underlying muscles, and nerves that will allow Wiens to move his face. To protect the privacy of the donor family, the hospital did not include the date of the surgery.

According to Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, the Brigham and Women’s Burn Unit director, Wiens was tragically wounded when his face came within close range of a high-voltage line while he was on the job in November 2008.

"He sustained devastating injury leaving him with bare bones instead of face," Pomahac told reporters.

Pomahac says the aim of the full face transplant is to restore “human appearance and function.” After the accident, Weins' face healed in a manner that left his mouth as the only recognizable, human feature. When his new face heals, he will not resemble his former self, nor will he look like the donor, since the new tissue will mold to his tissue and bones.

Weins' family says he is walking and talking and doctors predict he will soon be eating on his own. Sensation in his forehead, the right side of his face and most of his lips is expected to be recovered, while damage on his left side was much more serve, with doctors not expecting a full recovery of sensation to his left cheek and left forehead.

Surgeons have not yet mastered modern science to the point that the young man will regain all of his previous senses.

"Unfortunately we do not know how to transplant, at the current age, eyes, so we were not able to restore his vision," said Pomahac.

Last April, surgeons in Spain were able to succeed in the first ever full-face transplant on a patient dubbed “Oscar,” who was photographed three months later. In December 2008, Connie Culp, who survived being shot in the face by her husband, was the first American to receive a “near” full-face transplant after more than 80 percent of her face was restored at the Cleveland Clinic in a 22-hour operation.

Weins is the first patient on the lowest dose of anti-rejection drugs, compared to other face transplant recipients. Pomanhac says that two other patients are awaiting face transplants at Brigham and Women’s and he hypothesizes that face transplants will continue to be a rare feat unless qualifications of the surgery are altered or more eligible patients are discovered.

In order to receive a face transplant, a blood and tissue match must be found, the patient must be mentally capable of having a new face that is unlike their own, and they must be willing to comply with taking necessary medications to prevent rejection of the new face.

According to Weins’ grandfather, who says the young man’s recovery is “a miracle,” Weins is making strides to "get well and move on with his life and make something of his life."

Dallas Wiens, before last week's face transplant, was highly deformed and the only recognizable human features on his face were his lips

dooshman · #2 ● 03-22-2011, 05:19 PM

Wow.

TwistedPrincess · #3 ● 03-22-2011, 07:05 PM

this is wiems when he was waiting for the face transplant. i sure hope he looks better than what that culp lady looked like after hers.

edit:ok, mp4's don't work here so here is a different one. have no idea whats in it other than its on my computer filed under the dudes name.

Deadwaves · #4 ● 05-09-2011, 01:39 PM

Sorry if this has been posted already but I searched and came up with nothing.

Kelly made a post about what happened to this guy a while ago, stumbled upon a photo of him after his transplant on tumblr a few minutes ago. Pretty bloody incredible to say the least!

"A Texas cherry picker who burned his face off after his head touched an electrical wire showed off his new face on Monday as doctors presented the first U.S. full face transplant recipient.

Wearing black sunglasses and a dark goatee beard, Dallas Wiens, 26, appeared at a press conference alongside doctors who performed the operation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the northeastern city of Boston.

“To me the face feels natural, as it if has become my own,” said Mr. Wiens, acknowledging that he still feels numb in some places and needs to continue rehabilitation work to rebuild nerve function.

Face transplant patient Dallas Wiens is seen before (L) his transplant and after (R) in this combination handout image released to Reuters on May 9, 2011. (Parkland Health and Hospital System/Lightchaser Photography/Reuters)"

Original Post by Kelly: http://www.documentingreality.com/fo...aceless-65804/