First cephalosomatic anastomosis in a human model

Abstract

Background:Cephalosomatic anastomosis (CSA) has never been attempted before in man as the transected spinal cords of the body donor and body recipient could not be “fused” back together. Recent advances made this possible. Here, we report on the surgical steps necessary to reconnect a head to a body at the cervical level.Methods:Full rehearsal of a CSA on two recently deceased human cadavers was performed at Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.Results:The surgery took 18 hours to complete within the time frame planned for this surgery. Several advances resulted from this rehearsal, including optimization of the surgical steps, sparing of the main nerves (phrenics, recurrent laryngeal nerves), and assessment of vertebral stabilization.Conclusion:Several specialties are involved in a full-scale CSA, including neck surgery, vascular surgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, and neurosurgery, as well as the operating staff. This rehearsal confirmed the surgical feasibility of a human CSA and further validated the surgical plan. Education and coordination of all the operating teams and coordination of the operative staff was achieved in preparation for the live human CSA.

Is it time to perform the first human head transplant? Comment on the CSA (cephalosomatic anastomosis) paper by Ren, Canavero, and colleagues

“…It would be important to the worldwide audience to read the reports of the primate work they and others have done to complete the scope of the project. It would also be important for scientists to read the literature quoted in this review and the CSA paper[ 21 ] to gain a personal understanding of this important work.…”

“…This concept is the substance of their most recent paper published in SNI. [ 21 ] The appropriate consents were obtained in the country of China and the deceased patients families. Working at Harbin University in China, Ren and Canavero assembled a team of scientists and surgeons who worked to develop the plan for the transfer of a cadaver head to a second cadaver patient's body in a trial run of the actual live human operation.…”

“…This report by Ren and colleagues and Canavero is the first publication of that work of a human CSA. [ 21 ] The experiment was a trial for perfection of the techniques that will be used in an actual human CSA in the future.…”

“…The paper on CephaloSomatic Ansatomosis (CSA)[ 21 ] was the product of a combined team effort of many specialists and others. Many experiments were unreported and were conducted in animals and cadavers to answer all the technical questions posed by this huge experimental project before the first cadaver surgical CSA was performed.…”

“…The latest paper was on the trial using cadavers to perfect the details of the complex surgical transplant procedure to be performed in the future. [ 21 ]…”