Human head transplantation can be performed as early as December 2017. It will be conducted by Sergio Canavero, a surgeon from Italy; he chose Ren Xiaoping as his assistant.
The world's first operation of this kind will be performed by Valery Spiridonov, a Russian programmer suffering from Werdnig-Hoffmann amyotrophy. This is a disease in which the skeleton is deformed and muscle growth is impaired. The operation will take about 36 hours, according to experts. The patient himself says that doctors will let them know about their readiness when they are 99% sure of success.
The Italian himself is confident in the success of the transplant, but many researchers and scientists are skeptical about the idea, calling it obviously unsuccessful and fantastic. But the patient himself is not afraid of this attitude of the public. He is in a pleasant anticipation and feels a part of a great, and maybe even a revolutionary event in the world, although he clearly understands all the risks that may await him along the way.
The operation will require a whole hospital or a medical complex, 150 personnel who will be able to assist surgeons throughout the operation. The cost of such an adventure is very high, it is estimated at around 10-13 million euros. According to Canavero, it will take about two years to equip the operating room and conduct appropriate training. On the day of the operation, all the staff should act like one machine.
Because of his many years of experience in the field of clinical etiology, Kanavero chose Xiaoping as his assistant. To date, the Chinese surgeon and his team have performed over a thousand mouse head transplants. Some call Xiaoping Dr. Frankenstein for his controversial research.
Of course, someone might call the Italian surgeon another crazy scientist, if not for his understanding that for most such an operation looks like sheer madness. Realizing this, he realizes what a flurry of criticism and discontent his venture can cause. But at the same time, the physician hopes that the public will begin to discuss such issues "out loud", and he will be the first to set such an example.
Also, doctors confirmed that they will face extremely difficult problems during the operation. During the operation, the patient's brain will need to be cooled to a temperature of about 10 ° C. After that, the head will be separated from the body and they will begin to sew it to the donor one. The scientist plans to use biological glue and stimulate cell regeneration by using a weak electric current. According to the scientist, the idea that the entire spinal cord must be fused together for the body to function properly has lost its relevance. He believes that an indicator of 10-20% is sufficient, which will ensure full functioning.
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Most likely, the patient may experience terrible pain associated with the postoperative condition. To avoid problems, the patient will be put into a state of artificial coma for about a month. And to prevent tissue rejection, he will be injected with a large dose of immunosuppressants.