By Curtis Creekmore

A research team at the University of Louisville is on the verge of performing the world’s first facial transplantation surgery. Within three weeks, the team will know whether or not they can begin screening candidates for the surgery.

Years of research have led up to this point. The team led by Dr. John Barker, professor of surgery and director of plastic surgery research at U of L, had to complete research on a broad array of topics about the surgery. They examined the ethical and psychological concerns that would confront patients undergoing the surgery.

“The focus of our research was risk versus benefit,” Barker said. The team looked at factors such as the level of risk for getting a transplant, the mental and physical effects of a lifetime of immunosuppressive drugs, the benefits of a reconstructed face and the possibility of getting better results than from previously existing techniques.

Barker said it’s difficult to assess risk because every person has a different definition of the word.

“If you ride motorcycles, I would say that’s absolutely crazy. You’re not right, I’m not right – but each of us take a certain amount of risks each day,” he said.

The team created a psychological survey to administer to 300 people. On the survey each participant assessed how much they would risk for the various transplants.

To decide who would participate in the study, the team compiled a list of possible participants varying from patients who were already on immunosuppressive therapies to people who had been facially disfigured and could understand the benefits of receiving a new face. The list also included hand, larynx and kidney amputees as well as physicians who treat such patients.

The survey addressed seven different procedures: face transplant, partial face transplant, single hand transplant, double hand transplant, kidney transplant, larynx transplant and foot transplant.

“After running the survey, everybody – every single person said they would risk the most for a face transplant,” Barker said.

The results showed that even participants who had had kidney transplants would risk more for their faces.

The surgery is intended to open doors for people with facial deformities. Not only does it allow a fresh start to life with a new face, it is also much more cost-efficient than other options, said Ellen de Graffenreid, director of Communications for the Health Sciences Campus.

“Some people try plastic surgery 20 times or more to recover,” she said, “but they’re never the same. Potential candidates want to not be noticed. They strive for normality.”

Many students at U of L feel the surgery would have positive results, but some fear it could eventually be used for cosmetic purposes.

“I guess it’s like anything else,” said freshman Selena DeRossett. “It would have good aspects, like for people with severe burns, but I think people will ultimately abuse it, like ‘I want a new face.'”

Sophomore Nina Faghri thinks it is a great idea.

“If they can provide healthy skin for a person who needs it, then by all means they can do it,” she said. “I think it’s definitely worth it.”

The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio announced last month that they had begun screening candidates for a face transplant procedure. Although the announcement received worldwide media attention, de Graffenreid doesn’t believe the university’s team is behind the Cleveland Clinic.

“Our research has a different focus. Theirs is on the actual technique, and ours is on the risk/reward of the surgery,” she said. “It needs to be successful across all those dimensions. It’s not an issue of being behind. It’s an issue of having a different take on the subject.”

Once the protocol for the procedure and research is approved by the Institutional Review Board, the next step is to actually perform the surgery and follow the patient’s psychological and physical growth.

U of L’s research team is now searching for a hospital where the surgery will be performed.