You need a face to face the world” says Dr. Maria Siemionow (pictured left) at her presentation for the Hoffman—Parsky Lecture on December 16, 2009. Dr. Siemionow along with ten other surgeons, four anesthesiologists, and over thirty nurses and support staff performed the first near-total facial transplant in the United States.
Since 1995, Dr. Siemionow has been Director of Plastic Surgery Research, and Head of Microsurgery Training in the Plastic Surgery Department of Cleveland Clinic. She also holds the title as Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and at the Medical University in Poznan, Poland.
“The face is a demanding structure to reconstruct due to its subunits, texture, and many different functions, while simultaneously trying to preserve its beauty and expression,” says Dr. Siemionow. In order to obtain complete understanding and expertise on facial transplants, Dr. Siemionow completed over 1000 composite face transplants on rodents and 65 publications on the topic. Four years later Dr. Siemionow performed the operation on Connie Culp who was shot in the face by her husband in 2004 and had already underwent 23 surgeries.
After twenty two hours in the operating room, Connie Culp regained functions she wasn’t able to do in years – smell/breath through her nose, taste/eat solid foods, and drink from a cup. She also had no occurrence of PSSD, recaptured her self esteem, and had minimal pain (compared to pre-op).
At Connie Culp’s one year anniversary of the surgery she showed no clinical signs or evidence of rejection. All in all, the surgery couldn't have been more successful nor produced greater results. Ms. Culp has gained superior quality of life and Dr. Siemionow's achievement gives new hope to future patients.
