In December of this year, one of the most iconic moments of human history is set to take place. An Italian neurosurgeon Dr. Sergio Canavero, is going to attempt the world’s first human head transplant, a radical life-threatening operation the world will be following with fascination.
WORLD’S FIRST HUMAN HEAD TRANSPLANT
Dr. Sergio Canavero, Director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, has reportedly been planning the operation for 30 years, and even found someone who is willing to take the risk.
A 31-year-old Russian computer scientist named Valery Spiridonov, who is a terminally ill, wheelchair bound man, is set to become the recipient of the head transplant. Due to a degenerative muscle-wasting disease, Valery has never walked in his adult life. If successful, the risky procedure would allow him to not only survive, but live a better life.
The operation could take up to 36 hours to complete and should involve over 150 surgeons. The body would come from a brain-dead transplant donor, and involves cooling and maintaining the blood supply around the donor’s body and the recipient’s head. Once cooled, the recipient’s head will slowly be separated from his non-functioning body – which involves cutting the spinal cord – so it can then be attached to the donor’s body. Doctors will have less than 60 minutes to re-attach the head and glue the spinal cord with a substance called polyethylene glycol.
Valery Spiridonov will then have to be kept in a medically-induced coma for a period of three to four weeks, while his spinal cord nerves are stimulated so they start functioning again. Speaking to MailOnline, the patient said: