Italian surgeon to perform first human head transplant

An Italian surgeon claims he is ready to perform the first full human head 

transplant in 2017 and he already has a volunteer. Dr Sergio Canavero says his team have 

the ability to perform the complicated procedure thanks to technological advances. But 

experts have debunked his claims and insist that the operation is still many years from 

reality. Russian-born Valery Sprinidov, who suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann disease that 

causes atrophy of the muscles, has reportedly agreed to be the first patient to undergo 

the procedure. According to The Independent, Canavero, now 51, announced he'd be able 

to do a human head transplant in a two-part procedure he dubs HEAVEN (head 

anastomosis venture) and Gemini (the subsequent spinal cord fusion). But many dismiss 

Canavero's plans as fantasy. According to Canavero the operation will be a 36-hour, $20 

million (E14 milion) procedure involving at least 150 people, including doctors, nurses, 

technicians, psychologists and virtual reality engineers. In a specially equipped hospital 

suite, two surgical teams will work simultaneously one focused on Spiridonov and the 

other on the donor's body, selected from a brain-dead patient and matched with the 

Russian for height, build and immunotype. Both patients anesthetized and outfitted with 

breathing tubes will have their heads locked using metal pins and clamps, and electrodes 

will be attached to their bodies to monitor brain and heart activity. Next, Spiridonov's 

head will be nearly frozen, ultimately reaching 12 to 15 degrees Celsius, which will make 

him temporarily brain-dead. Doctors will then drain his brain of blood and flush it with a 

standard surgery solution. Then the two teams, working in concert, will make deep 

incisions around each patient's neck and use color-coded markings to note all the 

muscles in both Spiridonov's head and that of the donor, to facilitate the 

reconnection.Next comes the most critical step Of all. Under an operating microscope, 

doctors will cleanly chop through both spinal cords - with a $200,000 diamond 

nanoblade, so thin that it is measured in angstroms, provided by the University Of Texas. 

Then the rush is on: Once sliced, Spiridonov's head will have to be attached to the 

donor's body and connected to the blood flow within an hour. (When the head is 

transferred, the main vessels will be clamped to prevent air from causing a blockage.) 

Surgeons will quickly sew the arteries and veins of Spiridonov's head to those of his new 

body. The donor's blood flow will then, in theory, re-warm Spiridonov's head to normal 

temperatures within minutes. 

Citation: "Italian Surgeon to Perform First Human Head Transplant." The Hans India. Hyderbad India House, 3 May 2016. Web. 3 May 2016. <http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/International/2016-05-03/Italian-surgeon-to-perform-first-human-head-transplant/225754>.

 Response: This article talks about a recently proposed medical experiment to transplant a

head. The article seemed to biased with the confidence that this would work,
though I'm sure this is a very controversial issue. If this operation works,
then there will be an unbelievable amount of moral and medical issues to sort
out. I personally do not see any major benefits to this procedure that would
outweigh the amount of conflict produced by it. 
Overall, this article was pretty disturbing and the probability of this
procedure working seems pretty far fetched but would change the medical world a
great deal.