An Update on the Survival of the First 50 Face Transplants Worldwide

Since 2005, a total of 50 face transplants have been reported from 18 centers in 11 countries. The overall survival of the grafts has not yet been established.

To assess the survival of the face transplant grafts and evaluate factors potentially influencing it.

Data on all the transplants included in this multicenter cohort study were collected at participating transplant centers for updated nonpublished data, supplemented with literature review for nonparticipating centers. Data from 2005 until September 2023, were included. Data were analyzed from November 11, 2005, through September 18, 2023. Patients included the first 50 patients in the world to have received a face transplant.

Face transplant graft.

The primary outcome was the overall survival of the face transplant graft, defined as either transplant loss or patient death. The secondary outcome was the number of acute rejection episodes per year.

The 50 transplants were performed on 39 men (81%) and 9 women (19%) with a median age of 35 (range, 19-68) years at the time of the transplant. The median follow-up time was 8.9 (range, 0.2-16.7) years. During the follow-up, 6 transplants were lost with 2 patients retransplanted. There were 10 patients who died, 2 of whom had lost a transplant. The 5- and 10-year survival of the transplants was 85% (SD, 5%) and 74% (SD, 7%), respectively. The sequential number of the transplant in the world was a significant predictor of survival (hazard ratio, 95; 95% CI, 90-100; P < 05). The median number of acute rejection episodes per year was 1.2 (range, 0-5.3) for the transplants that were lost and 0.7 (range, 0-4.6) for the transplants that survived. No correlation with patient and transplant variables was detected for either the transplant survival or the number of rejection episodes.

In this study, the overall survival of the face transplants is encouraging. These data suggest that the acceptable long-term survival of face transplants makes them a reconstructive option for extensive facial defects.