Human Craniomaxillofacial Allotransplantation

Facial Injuries Clinical Trial

Official title: Human Craniomaxillofacial Allotransplantation

Status Recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

Background: The human face is critically important for breathing, eating, seeing, and speaking/ communicating, but its most important job may be to look like a human face. Devastating facial deformities often cause affected individuals to avoid human contact and disappear from society. Although current surgical advancements can somewhat restore facial defects, this process often requires many operations and the resulting face only resembles the human face. To date, over 20 face transplants have been performed with highly encouraging functional and aesthetic results, but widespread clinical use has been limited due to the adverse effects of life-long and high-dose immunosuppression needed to prevent graft rejection. Risks include infection, cancer, and metabolic problems, all of which can greatly affect recipients' quality of life, make the procedure riskier, and jeopardize the potential benefits of face transplantation.

Study Design: This non-randomized, Phase II clinical trial will document the use of a new immunomodulatory protocol (aka - Pittsburgh Protocol, Starzl Protocol) for establishing face transplantation as a safe and effective reconstructive treatment for devastating injuries/ defects by minimizing maintenance immunosuppression therapy in face transplant patients. This protocol combines lymphocyte depletion with donor bone marrow cell infusion and has enabled graft survival using low doses of a single immunosuppressive drug followed by weaning of treatment. Initially designed for living-related solid organ donation, this regimen has been adapted for use with grafts donated by deceased donors. The investigators propose to perform 15 full or partial human face transplants employing this novel protocol.

Specific Aims: 1) To establish face transplantation as a safe and effective reconstructive strategy for the treatment of devastating facial injuries/defects; 2) To reduce the risk of rejection and enable allograft survival while minimizing the requirement for long-term, high-dose, multi-drug immunosuppression.

Significance of Research: Face transplantation could help injured individuals recover functionality, self-esteem, and the ability to reintegrate into family and social life as "whole" individuals. This protocol offers the potential for minimizing the morbidity of maintenance immunosuppression, thereby beneficially shifting the risk/benefit ratio of this life-enhancing procedure and enabling a wider clinical application of face transplantation.

Clinical Trial Description

n/a

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Congenital Abnormalities
• Craniofacial Defects
• Craniofacial Injuries
• Facial Deformity
• Facial Injuries
• Facial Transplantation
• Facies
• Traumatic Wounds and Injuries
• Wounds and Injuries

• NCT number: NCT01889381
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Johns Hopkins University
• Contact: Jane Littleton, CRNP, MSN
• Phone: 410-955-6875
• Email: jlittl38@jhmi.edu
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: August 2012
• Completion date: August 2031