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Updated: May 17, 2026
Facial Transplants in Xenopus laevis Embryos
Published on: March 26, 2014
Total face, double jaw, and tongue transplantation: an evolutionary concept
Amir H Dorafshar1, Branko Bojovic, Michael R Christy
1Baltimore, Md. From the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Background:
The central face high-energy avulsive injury has been frequently encountered and predictably managed at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. However, despite significant surgical advances and multiple surgical procedures, the ultimate outcome continues to reveal an inanimate, insensate, and suboptimal aesthetic result.
Methods:
To effectively address this challenging deformity, a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach was devised. The strategy involved the foundation of a basic science laboratory, the cultivation of a supportive institutional clinical environment, the innovative application of technologies, cadaveric simulations, a real-time clinical rehearsal, and an informed and willing recipient who had the characteristic deformity.
Results:
After institutional review board and organ procurement organization approval, a total face, double jaw, and tongue transplantation was performed on a 37-year-old man with a central face high-energy avulsive ballistic injury.
Conclusions:
This facial transplant represents the most comprehensive transplant performed to date. Through a systematic approach and clinical adherence to fundamental principles of aesthetic surgery, craniofacial surgery, and microsurgery and the innovative application of technologies, restoration of human appearance and function for individuals with a devastating composite disfigurement is now a reality.
Clinical Question/Level Of Evidence:
Therapeutic, V.
