Final gift: World’s first partial face transplant from assisted dying donor performed in Barcelona
Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron University Hospital has carried out the world’s first partial face transplant using tissue from a donor who had formally requested assisted dying, marking a new milestone in reconstructive and transplant medicine, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
The highly complex procedure involved around 100 specialists and lasted up to 24 hours. It was performed on a patient who required a type I transplant of the central facial area after suffering extensive tissue necrosis caused by a severe bacterial infection.
“Face transplantation is a functional surgery, carried out when a patient has lost areas of the face that cannot be restored through standard plastic surgery techniques,” said Joan-Pere Barret i Nerín, Head of the Plastic Surgery and Burns Department. He noted that such patients often face profound functional, psychological and social challenges.
Before undergoing the assisted dying procedure, the donor decided to give not only her organs and tissues but also her face. According to Elisabeth Navas, Medical Coordinator of Donation and Transplants at the hospital, the case demonstrates a level of maturity that leaves one speechless.
“Someone who has decided to end their life dedicates one of their last wishes to a stranger and gives them a second chance,” she said.
Vall d’Hebron has now performed three of the six face transplants conducted in Spain. Worldwide, only about 20 centers have the capacity to carry out such procedures. Each case is assessed individually and requires approval from ethics committees and national transplant authorities.
According to Alberto Sandiumenge, Vall d’Hebron’s experience and multidisciplinary resources make it possible to undertake these operations, although “for each case we develop a specific, tailor-made protocol.”
After one month of hospitalization and ongoing rehabilitation, the patient is now adapting to what doctors describe as a second life made possible by exceptional altruism.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that a group of Chinese researchers had found that social isolation triggers iron accumulation in specific regions of the brain, inducing anxiety. The findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, may provide new directions for the development of interventions to treat anxiety disorders.