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What is a Face Transplant and Why is a Face Transplant Done?
Face transplant is one of the most important health developments of our age. Face transplants are done because of burns, facial trauma, diseases, or birth defects. The main purpose of a face transplant is to meet daily needs.
It is done to normalize both physical appearance and functional abilities of the body, such as chewing, swallowing, speaking, and breathing. Some people have what’s called a birth defect. Most people who want to undergo face transplant surgery want to have this surgery to reduce their social isolation.
Face transplant surgery is a complex operation that needs months of planning and works planning by more than one surgical team. Face transplant surgery takes place at several transplant centers around the world. These transplant centers carefully evaluate the person who wants a face transplant(For more detailed information, you can visit Wikipedia) to help ensure the best results. A face transplant can positively improve your life, but it has a very high-risk potential.
The result of a face transplant is not completely certain. How exactly your face will be formed as a result of the transplant and how the body will react to this surgery is one of the risk factors. Face transplant rejection is the most important risk. In order to reduce the risk of the body rejecting the transplanted face, transplant recipients need to take special medications that they will use for life.
The first face transplant was performed in India in 1994. The first clinical case to support that a face transplant is technically possible occurred in 1994. The first partial face transplant in the world was performed in France in 2005, and the first full-face transplant was performed in Spain in 2010.
The first successful face transplant, in which the entire face is transplanted, was performed in Turkey in 2012. The face transplant in Turkey was performed by surgeon Ă–mer Ă–zkan and his team at Akdeniz University Hospital in Antalya. Together with their team, they succeeded in the world’s first successful full-face transplant. The patient named UÄźur Acar, whose face was burned in the fire at the age of 19 was treated and healthily continues his life.
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How does face transplant work?
The skin to be treated and the graft is taken from the donor must be compatible with the patient’s blood group and gender. The facial lines taken from the donor must be taken very precisely. Removal of facial lines takes about 4-5 hours. The procedures of the transplanted face continue between 10-12 hours.
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What is the success rate of a face transplant?
Face transplant carries many different risks. It would not be right to share a clear success rate or statistics about face transplantation. There is no specific research on this subject. The surgery, which has been performed in many countries since the 2000s, has offered successful results, albeit risky. Face transplant operations are carried out without any problems in France and Spain, and Spain is known for being the first.