A new study found that the blood vessels in the tongue can restore itself even after a face transplant.
Researchers from the Brigham & Women's Applied Imaging Science Laboratory (AISL) led by Dr. Kanako Kumakura based this conclusion after seeing four cases.
Dr. Kumakura told Medpage: "In all four of our patients, we saw the same pattern of blood vessel restoration, even in cases where both lingual arteries were ligated during the transplantation process."
When they first saw it, they initially assumed that the "arterial blood supply and venous blood return were simply from the connections of the arteries and the veins at the time of surgery. But the imaging shows there are new blood vessels."
Their analysis showed that the new blood vessels originated from where the tongue was cut off but they also have one case where new blood vessels grew even if the deformed tongue was bilateral . They have observed a pattern in all four cases of face transplants. The patients are being monitored through CTA or computed tomography angiography.
One specific patient, who had the opportunity attest to the study findings at the press conference is Dallas Wiens, 38, Texas. He is the first of the four patients to have face transplant in March 2011 who has shown fast and steady progress.
Wiens had suffered facial damage in which he lost his eyesight, nose, eyebrows and lips after being electrocuted by a high-powered wire at a church where he worked. But after the facial transplant, he could speak, breathe, and even eat. He is now able to go back and live a satisfying life with his children and his new wife.
The the surgeons completed Weins' face transplant for 30 hours but the newly discovered process of blood vessel restoration is very valuable. It is now unnecessary to re-attach some of the blood vessels, a process done to maintain function of the tongue, would reduce the time to complete a surgery.
