Immunosuppression in an emerging field of plastic reconstructive surgery: composite tissue allotransplantation

Composite tissue transplantation (CTA) refers to the transplantation of an allograft consisting of heterogeneous cadaveric tissues. It provides a means of restoring structural, functional and aesthetic form in severely injured patients. Recent progress in facial transplantation has highlighted the immense strides made in this field of reconstructive surgery. However the potential for improvements in quality of life must be offset by the need for life-long immunosuppression in adults with non life-threatening injuries. The benefits and difficulties of immunosuppressive drugs have been established in solid organ transplantation. Regimens derived from renal transplantation have been successfully applied to CTA. However the published incidence of complications seen in organ transplant recipients may not be easily extrapolated to potential CTA candidates and may be overstated. Accepted views that high dose immunosuppression would be needed to overcome highly antigenic tissues such as skin have not been borne out by clinical experience. It is therefore important to assess the current state of affairs, attempt to quantify the perceived risks and explore novel research methods being investigated. In doing so one can make a well-informed judgment of the potential benefit of this surgical modality as an integral part of the reconstructive ladder.