Des premières réimplantations aux premières transplantations totales de la face : l'histoire de prouesses chirurgicales

Composite tissue allografts of the face were considered as science-fiction just a decade ago. They have become wonderful realities in our hospitals. Face transplantation is one of the great scientific adventures of the 21th century that history will remember. Physicians dreamed to give a new face to disfigured patients. Allografts of the face have become a reality thanks to breakthroughs in anatomy and plastic surgery, HLA system research, microsurgery, neurology, and immunosuppressive molecules. In 2010, two teams performed the first total face transplants in the world. They represent technical milestones in the history of transplantation. These face transplants, which have raised a lot of controversy and ethical questions, open the way for other surgical perspectives, allowing medicine to write new history, and show that progress is also made through transgression.