title: Ethical questions raised by the first allotransplantations of the face: a survey of French surgeons.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  More than any other allograft, the allotransplantation of the face has a symbolic character, which raises a large number of questions. The objective of this article is to make an analysis through a survey carried out among French surgeons.
  
  
  METHODS
  A file of 909 e-mail addresses of surgeons was created so as to send out a questionnaire regarding 10 ethical issues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Beyond the technical prowess, the surgeons ethical reflection initially focused on the notion of consent to donation and care. They attached equal importance to all ethical questions. They spontaneously raised the issue of over-mediatization of these first transplants and the place of the transplant surgeons and their patients in the medical information.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over two thirds of the surgeons attached importance to ethical issues regarding the donor and recipient of a facial allograft. Some of the principal questions facing facial transplantation is of an ethical nature as it is an unprecedented procedure that is challenged by the axiom to first do no harm and the need of modern medicine to limit risk to as close to zero as possible. For the non-specialist, accepting psychologically the face of another individual appears to be a real issue. Contrary to that, the main demand expressed by the facial transplant recipients appears to be related to facial functions rather than appearance.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Ethics and Forensic Medicine, University of Paris Descartes, France. drphp1@orange.fr
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pirnay
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foo
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hervé
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Meningaud
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D054445:Facial Transplantation / Q000941:ethics*; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000941:ethics; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000941:ethics; D008402:Mass Media / Q000941:ethics; D028701:Patient Rights / Q000941:ethics; D028723:Personhood; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000941:ethics*; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000941:ethics; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000941:ethics; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology