A member of the French team that successfully performed the world’s first human face transplant addressed a conference in Dublin about the ethical, medical and psychological problems raised by the procedure.

Dr Benoit Lengelé spoke at the European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery (EAFPS) annual meeting, which was held at RCSI) from 4-6 September 2006. It was the first time that the meeting had been held in Ireland.

A number of leading Irish and worldwide facial plastic surgeons attended the three-day event, which addressed both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery aspects on the face.

Leading American surgeon Dr Wayne Larrabee delivered a keynote lecture on ‘Facial Plastic Surgery – A Global Specialty'. He discussed the introduction this year of a worldwide standard for facial plastic surgeons that will certify that surgeons have rigorously trained and successfully completed their examinations to become experts in facial plastic surgery.

The distinguished Irish artist Dr Thomas Ryan appraised facial features from the viewpoint of a portrait painter. The guest of honour at this year’s event was the eminent Professor Wilf Goodman, University of Toronto who is a pioneer in external approach rhinoplasty.

“Facial plastic surgery is one of the most demanding areas of surgery because it deals with abnormality or disfigurement of the most highly, most human and most emotive area of the body. It is certainly a topic that has attracted growing interest in this country,”said Mr Andrew Maguire, Vice-President for Ireland of the European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery (EAFPS).