The Face Trust

Our aims and vision

Why do we think Face Transplantation is important?

"There are people on the brink of suicide in this country because they have suffered severe facial trauma in car crashes, fires or subways blowing up - why should we not help?"

Falklands war veteran and Patron of the Face Trust, Simon Weston.

The first Lancet editorial produced by the UK Facial Transplantation Team asked three key questions:

Is there a genuine clinical need for facial transplantation?
Can the success of the operation be assured?
Do the benefits outweigh the risks?

The UK team firmly believe that there is a clinical need for a small group of patients with severe facial injuries, and in particular, burns that affect the whole face, to receive facial reconstructive surgery. Traditional reconstructive methods are limited; they often have a poor cosmetic outcome and scarring may contract over the long term, reducing facial function and causing further problems, for example difficulty in closing the eyes.

This is illustrated only too well by the case of Jacqueline Saburido who was terribly burned after a drunk driver smashed into her car that exploded in flames. Jacqueline was thought to be dead and survived against all odds but her once beautiful face was terribly burned and she lost most of her hands too. She has no eyelids and has to apply fluid to her eyes every couple of hours to save what sight she has left.

You can read Jacqui’s full story by clicking on these links:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/20/nfacelift20.xml
or
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1096217.ece

It is never possible to guarantee the outcome of any surgical procedure, but the probability of a successful outcome can be explained. Evidence from replanted faces (where facial tissue is reattached after an accident) is very encouraging, as is the success of composite tissue transplantation, for example during a hand transplantation. The careful monitoring of the immunosuppressive management of these patients yields additional evidence that the anticipated problems with transplanting skin from a donor to a recipient can be managed successfully. Therefore, the likely outcome of the procedure is better understood, and information is increasingly positive.

The UK Facial Transplantation Team believes that the risk benefit analysis in facial transplantation is unique to each individual. Quality of life is a subjective measure, and only the individual can decide whether the costs of a severe facial injury are significant enough to justify the risks of lifelong immunosuppression.

This is a calculation made every day by people who choose between kidney transplant or never ending dialysis. Some people choose not to go ahead. We believe that this is a decision that patients should make, with support from their families, on the basis of as much information as the clinical team can provide.