Man To Undergo World’s First Head Transplant As Early As Next Year

By Editorial Staff in Science and Technology On 24th September 2016
advertisement

Valery Spiridonov has volunteered to undergo the procedure

Valery Spiridonov, 31, suffers from Werdnig-Hoffman's disease a rare form of spinal muscular atrophy that causes muscle degeneration, as well as problems chewing, swallowing and breathing.

Now he has volunteered for the groundbreaking procedure, which will be carried out by neurosurgeons in China and led by Italian doctor Dr Sergio Canavero.

Valery told ITV's Good Morning Britain that although the procedure is incredibly risky, he was willing to ‘give it a go' to try and improve his quality of life and contribute to a potential medical breakthrough.

Watch his interview here:

advertisement
Follow On Google News

Dr Sergio Canavero insists that the procedure will be successful

‘My current condition is pretty heavy,' he continued. ‘I cannot take care of myself, I cannot walk, I need constant assistance. My motivation is about improving my life conditions and to get to the stage where I will be able to take care of myself and be independent of other people.'

The operation, which will cost £10million and take 150 medical staff 36 hours to complete, has never been attempted on a human before. Scientists have attempted the procedure on animals, but with limited success.

Dr Hillary Jones, who is not involved in the operation, told GMB that if he survives Valery could end up paralysed, or the donor body could reject his head.

‘He'd need a respirator because the nerves that make his heart beat and his lung breathe would not be connected anymore and he could well end up with no motor function in his body, paralysis,' he said.

But Dr Canavero insisted that all of the surgeons involved estimate that there's a 90% chance of survival.

He added that, if successful, Valery would be able to speak in his own voice after regaining consciousness, and that he could be walking within a year.

Chinese doctor Xiao-Ping Ren, who is performing the operation alongside Dr Canavery, carried out head transplants on more than 1,000 mice. However, none survived.

advertisement

Neurosurgeon predicts 90% success of head transplant

Follow On Twitter

How will the operation be carried out?

First the head will be frozen to temperatures below -15C to stop brain cells from dying

Then the neck will be cut, and tubes connecting the key arteries and veins will be fitted

The next, and most challenging step will be to cut the spinal cord. The surgeon will use a fine blade made from diamond in order to minimise the damage

The donor body's head will then be removed and the spinal cords will be fused together with a form of glue

As quickly as possible, the remaining muscles, veins and organs such as the oesophagus will be fused together

Plastic surgeons will then stitch the skin together

After the procedure, the patient will be kept in an induced coma for three to four weeks so that everything is able to heal drugs will also be administered to stop the body rejecting the head