Transplantation of Head is no more a Science-fiction Topic Only.
Organ transplantation seems a very common event in nowadays medical and surgical sciences, except when it comes about the head! Because of the criticalities regarding the fusion in the spinal cords of the donor and recipient, the head is most tough to be transplanted. However, several efforts have been made for more than a century.
This has a biological jargon; cephalosomatic anastomosis often found in scientific literature and experiments have been carried successfully, resulting in its feasibility in the near future.
Qualification
For the first attempt, a young person suffering from a terminal disease but having his or her brain functions completely intact should be the recipient. On the other hand, the donor should be a young brain-dead patient having his or her all body parts healthy enough. The idea is to first behead the recipient and detach the body from the donor. After that, the recipient’s head will be placed onto the healthy body of the donor.
Are there any obstacles?
Well, there are, and it's more than obvious. The following are the most critical obstructions which are found in modern research attempts made by top-graded physiologists and surgeons.
Interventions of Head & Body
The central problem of this operation is the arrangement related efficiency. The top-level surgical efficiency and strong cooperation and coordination skill are governed by a team of multidisciplinary surgeons, such as neurosurgeons, cardiothoracic, vascular, orthopaedic and plastic surgeons with an excellent base of surgical arrangements and preparations are required. A slight amount of inefficiency or delay in proper action during the surgery might lead to a failure and death of the patient.
Head Temperature Reduction
The researchers suggest that there is a necessity of reducing the head temperature of the recipient to disconnect it from his or her body and reconnect it to the donor’s body under definite surgical and medical conditions.
Spinal Fusion & Spinal Cord Reattachment
The spinal fusion that is cutting the spinal cord is something that needs an ultra-precision, a single mistake in which might lead to a complete failure. It requires an ultra-thin blade that ensures a “clean-cut”. Again its reattachment is another crucial and critical activity to be performed with enormous precision.
Other Issues
Besides all these, there are several psychological, social and ethical factors related to head transplantation, which is the same as it was in the case of kidney or liver transplantation. These are expected to vanish as a proper relationship with the scientific community grows stronger.
