Risk versus benefit: facing a question of balance

APPROVAL for the world’s first full face transplant in Britain has raised the difficult question — is the complicated procedure worth it?

It has never been performed before and the risks to a patient are high.

Problems include an increased chance of cancer, the possibility of a shortened life expectancy and a high likelihood that the body will reject the new skin. Skin is the most sensitive of all body parts and the most likely to be rejected.