About Face

Dr. Maria Siemionow is looking for the perfect face.

As a transplant surgeon and section head of plastic surgery research at the Cleveland Clinic, Siemionow has been searching for the ideal candidate to receive the first face transplant to be done in the United States.

This groundbreaking work led the 58-year-old physician to write about her experiences. Siemionow’s “Transplanting a Face: Notes on a Life in Medicine” chronicles her journey from a resident in a Finnish hospital to her current dedication to helping people rebuild their lives through reconstructive surgery.

 

 

Why did you choose to write this book for consumers rather than professionals?
I think there’s public interest about transplantation of the face. It is misunderstood — many people take it as a beautifying procedure rather than something that is life saving. It’s really just to educate the public.

What is your book about?
The book is basically the whole 20 years of my work with face transplantation and the logistics. Face transplantation has been a hot debate for the past five years. The topic basically exploded after we gained approval in 2004 for the procedure from the Institutional Review Board, so it’s about informing.

Has such a surgery been done before?
There have been three partial face surgeries done in both China and France.

When will you go ahead with the surgery?
It depends on the donor. Right now we have various candidates who we are looking at. This procedure is similar to that of a kidney and heart procedure. It’s a combination of our part and who is the right candidate. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into something like this.

What is the most rewarding thing about this?
This is about helping people who have suffered trauma. This is about helping people who are living without a face. That isn’t easy and it is really devastating to many patients. This procedure is done for a selected group of patients who have suffered different kinds of accidents and cannot face the world.