Human Head Transplant Possible With Reconnection of Donor, Recipient Spinal Cords

No, they're not joking; nor is this a remake of the 1974 classic "Young Frankenstein."

Italian scientist Sergio Canavero actually believes that he could become the first to successfully complete (drum roll) a human head transplant. Canavero said he believes this could provide possible solutions for those suffering from muscular dystrophy or even tetraplegics with widespread organ failure. But a head transplant? What exactly does that involve?

Haven't heard of something this fantastic? Well, Canavero's not the first scientist to try out this experiment. In fact, the frist head transplant was attempted in the 1950s, when Russian scientist Vladimir Demikhov was working on dog head transplants. (Gross, we know.) He would attach heads and other parts to different dogs, often resulting in weird hybrids that only survived for a few months. Just twenty years later, Robert White, who was also working with animals and transplants, conducted a successful head transplant by moving the head of one monkey to the body of another. However, the monkey only lived several days as White was unable to connect two animal's spinal cords.

Canavero is hopeful for this procedure, but be warned. The surgical process could take up to 100 surgeons and close to 36 hours to complete, at a cost of close to £8.5million.

"The greatest technical hurdle to such endeavor is of course the reconnection of the donor's and recipient's spinal cords," Canavero said, via The Daily Mail. "It is my contention that the technology only now exists for such linkage. It is argued that several up-to-now hopeless medical conditions might benefit from such procedure."

The procedure would be a very delicate and intricate process, calling for the head undergoing transplantation to be cooled between 12C and 15C. Surgeons would then have one hour to remove both heads and reconnect the transplant head to the circulatory system of the donor body. As an hour is the longest amount of time a human brain can survive without a steady flow of blood and oxygen, the operation would have to be carried out within a very small window.  

According to Canavero's paper, the spinal cord would need to be cut with a sharp scalpel and "mechanically connected" to the other body. 

The donor body's heart could then be restarted once the head was reconnected.

All this talk has us in the mood to watch some Sci-fi thrillers. What about you?

More information regarding the procedure can be found in Surgical Neurology International.