Laurent Lantieri1, Philippe Grimbert2, Nicolas Ortonne3, Caroline Suberbielle4, Dominique Bories5, Salvador Gil-Vernet6, Cédric Lemogne7, Frank Bellivier8, Jean Pascal Lefaucheur9, Nathaniel Schaffer1, Fréderic Martin10, Jean Paul Meningaud11, Pierre Wolkenstein12, Mikael Hivelin13. 1. Service de Chirurgie Plastique, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France. 2. Service de Néphrologie et Transplantation, Hôpital Henri Mondor, APHP, Creteil, France-Université Paris Est Creteil (UPEC), Paris France. 3. Département de Pathologie, Hôpital Henri Mondor, APHP, Creteil, France-Université Paris Est Creteil (UPEC), Paris France. 4. Laboratoire Régional d'Histocompatibilité «Jean Dausset», Hôpital Saint Louis, APHP, Paris, France; Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France. 5. Laboratoire D'Hématologie Biologique et Moléculaire, Hôpital Henri Mondor, APHP, Creteil, France-Université Paris Est Creteil (UPEC), Paris France. 6. Unitat Assistencial de Trasplantament, Bellvitge Hospital Universitari, Barcelona, Spain. 7. Service de Psychiatrie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, APHP-Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France. 8. Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, INSERM UMR-S 1144, Paris, France; APHP, GH Saint-Louis-Lariboisière-F Widal, Département de Psychiatrie et de Médecine Addictologique. 9. Service des Explorations Fonctionnelles, Hôpital Henri Mondor, APHP, Creteil, France-Université Paris Est Creteil (UPEC), Paris France. 10. Paris, France. 11. Service de Chirurgie Plastique et Reconstructrice, Hôpital Henri Mondor, APHP, Creteil, France-Université Paris Est Creteil (UPEC), Paris France. 12. Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Henri Mondor, APHP, Creteil, France-Université Paris Est Creteil (UPEC), Paris France. 13. Service de Chirurgie Plastique, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France. Electronic address: mikael.hivelin@aphp.fr.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: More than 30 face transplantations have been done worldwide since 2005 but no documented long-term follow-up has been reported in the literature. We aimed to answer remaining question about the long-term risks and benefits of face transplant. METHODS: In this single-centre, prospective, open study, we assessed 20 patients presenting with facial defects. Ten patients were selected, and, after three were secondarily excluded, seven were transplanted: two with neurofibromatosis 1, one with a burn, and four with self-inflicted facial gunshot injuries. We report the long-term outcomes of six face allotransplant recipients at an average of 6 years (range 3·4-9 years) after the transplantation. All admissions to hospital except for planned revisions and immunosuppressive follow-up therapy were reported as adverse events (safety endpoint). Predefined immunological, metabolic, surgical, and social integration endpoints were collected prospectively. Patients underwent quantitative health-related quality of life assessments through Short Form 36 health questionnaires. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00527280. FINDINGS: Two of seven patients died: one at 65 days due to transplant destruction with concomitant pseudomonas infection and the second at 3·4 years after transplantation by suicide. The six patients alive at long-term follow-up presented with functional transplants. Safety endpoints were related to infection in the first month, acute rejection from 1 day to 7 years after transplantation, or side-effects of immunosuppressive therapy. Recurrent rejection episodes justified maintenance therapy with high-dose steroids at high levels in all patients at last follow-up, yet none of the patients developed diabetes. Three patients were found to have hypertension with one requiring therapy. All patients had a noticeable reduction in glomerular filtration rate. All recipients and their families accepted their transplant. Improvements in social integration and quality of life were highly variable among the patients and depended on baseline levels and psychiatric comorbidities. INTERPRETATION: These long-term results show the crucial effect of patients' social support and pre-existing psychiatric conditions on the risk-benefit ratio of facial transplantation. Careful preoperative patient selection and long-term postoperative follow-up programmes under strict institutional review board controls should be used for any future grafts of this type. FUNDING: Protocole Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique (PHRC) National.
BACKGROUND: More than 30 face transplantations have been done worldwide since 2005 but no documented long-term follow-up has been reported in the literature. We aimed to answer remaining question about the long-term risks and benefits of face transplant. METHODS: In this single-centre, prospective, open study, we assessed 20 patients presenting with facial defects. Ten patients were selected, and, after three were secondarily excluded, seven were transplanted: two with neurofibromatosis 1, one with a burn, and four with self-inflicted facial gunshot injuries. We report the long-term outcomes of six face allotransplant recipients at an average of 6 years (range 3·4-9 years) after the transplantation. All admissions to hospital except for planned revisions and immunosuppressive follow-up therapy were reported as adverse events (safety endpoint). Predefined immunological, metabolic, surgical, and social integration endpoints were collected prospectively. Patients underwent quantitative health-related quality of life assessments through Short Form 36 health questionnaires. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00527280. FINDINGS: Two of seven patients died: one at 65 days due to transplant destruction with concomitant pseudomonas infection and the second at 3·4 years after transplantation by suicide. The six patients alive at long-term follow-up presented with functional transplants. Safety endpoints were related to infection in the first month, acute rejection from 1 day to 7 years after transplantation, or side-effects of immunosuppressive therapy. Recurrent rejection episodes justified maintenance therapy with high-dose steroids at high levels in all patients at last follow-up, yet none of the patients developed diabetes. Three patients were found to have hypertension with one requiring therapy. All patients had a noticeable reduction in glomerular filtration rate. All recipients and their families accepted their transplant. Improvements in social integration and quality of life were highly variable among the patients and depended on baseline levels and psychiatric comorbidities. INTERPRETATION: These long-term results show the crucial effect of patients' social support and pre-existing psychiatric conditions on the risk-benefit ratio of facial transplantation. Careful preoperative patient selection and long-term postoperative follow-up programmes under strict institutional review board controls should be used for any future grafts of this type. FUNDING: Protocole Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique (PHRC) National.
Authors: Dimitra Kotsougiani; Caroline A Hundepool; Joost I Willems; Patricia Friedrich; Alexander Y Shin; Allen T Bishop Journal: J Vis Exp Date: 2017-08-13 Impact factor: 1.355
Authors: Elie P Ramly; Rami S Kantar; J Rodrigo Diaz-Siso; Allyson R Alfonso; Eduardo D Rodriguez Journal: Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open Date: 2019-08-19