Active clinical trials for "Facial Injuries"

The purpose of this study is to perform face transplants on people who have suffered severe facial trauma with tissue and functional loss; and evaluate the acceptance and function of the transplanted tissue. The aim of the transplant is to provide patient a more normal appearance . Additionally we aim to restore functioning, movement, and sensation of their face including that of the lips, mouth, and eyes.

Background: The human face is critically important for breathing, eating, seeing, and speaking/ communicating, but its most important job may be to look like a human face. Devastating facial deformities often cause affected individuals to avoid human contact and disappear from society. Although current surgical advancements can somewhat restore facial defects, this process often requires many operations and the resulting face only resembles the human face. To date, over 20 face transplants have been performed with highly encouraging functional and aesthetic results, but widespread clinical use has been limited due to the adverse effects of life-long and high-dose immunosuppression needed to prevent graft rejection. Risks include infection, cancer, and metabolic problems, all of which can greatly affect recipients' quality of life, make the procedure riskier, and jeopardize the potential benefits of face transplantation. Study Design: This non-randomized, Phase II clinical trial will document the use of a new immunomodulatory protocol (aka - Pittsburgh Protocol, Starzl Protocol) for establishing face transplantation as a safe and effective reconstructive treatment for devastating injuries/ defects by minimizing maintenance immunosuppression therapy in face transplant patients. This protocol combines lymphocyte depletion with donor bone marrow cell infusion and has enabled graft survival using low doses of a single immunosuppressive drug followed by weaning of treatment. Initially designed for living-related solid organ donation, this regimen has been adapted for use with grafts donated by deceased donors. The investigators propose to perform 15 full or partial human face transplants employing this novel protocol. Specific Aims: 1) To establish face transplantation as a safe and effective reconstructive strategy for the treatment of devastating facial injuries/defects; 2) To reduce the risk of rejection and enable allograft survival while minimizing the requirement for long-term, high-dose, multi-drug immunosuppression. Significance of Research: Face transplantation could help injured individuals recover functionality, self-esteem, and the ability to reintegrate into family and social life as "whole" individuals. This protocol offers the potential for minimizing the morbidity of maintenance immunosuppression, thereby beneficially shifting the risk/benefit ratio of this life-enhancing procedure and enabling a wider clinical application of face transplantation.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate functional and aesthetic outcomes of combined facial and upper extremity composite tissue allografts on patients who have not achieved functional and aesthetic outcomes with conventional reconstructive surgical strategies and prosthetic devices.

Face allotransplantation will be performed in facial trauma patients. Immune suppression will primarily be provided according to standard three-drug regimen. The primary outcome to be evaluated in the proposed trial is face allograft acceptance.

This study will examine the impact of the fat grafting procedure on facial appearance and quality of life over time by precisely measuring soft tissue volume with CT scans, assessing appearance with 2D and 3D photography and standard photography and evaluating quality of life through various validated psychosocial measures. This study will be a very important evaluation of the effectiveness of this therapy, and will help guide clinicians in applying this technique. Additionally, laboratory testing of the injected fat material will be performed so that the results may be correlated with clinical outcomes in the future. The study endpoints include the analysis of the graft site via study procedures at different time points, the comparison of cotton rolling to centrifugation method of autologous fat grafting, as well as the correlation of cell behavior of the laboratory assays with clinical outcomes.

Injuries resulting in facial trauma are common, and can have devastating consequences on your quality of life. While the facial bones can often be reconstructed, physicians strive to find better ways to accurately restore injured facial features. In this clinical trial funded by the Department of Defense, the investigators are evaluating how effectively fat grafting can restore facial features, and how the filling effect of the fat graft lasts over time in participants with visible facial injuries. All procedures for this research study will be performed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

To research the use of a novel set of intraoral tools called the Easy Stretch Toolkit for the therapeutic management of facial burns and other facial disorders.

Fat grafting represents a technique with great potential to improve outcomes in minimally invasive facial reconstruction. Fat grafting has already been demonstrated as a safe and minimally invasive technique over decades of widespread practice in plastic surgery. In our current study of fat grafting for facial deformities (IRB# PRO09060101), we have treated 9 subjects without adverse event and all have had a significant improvement. Since all methods of treatment and evaluation are the same in this study, we will be able to use the data in our prior study as additional control data. We hypothesize that repeating the fat grafting in subjects with previous facial fat grafts will enable successful restoration of tissue volume and craniofacial form. Additionally, we hypothesize that the results will be durable and subject quality of life improved. Five (5) subjects (who were previously enrolled into IRB# PRO09060101) will be enrolled to this single center University of Pittsburgh site research study.

To test the hypothesis if provision of helmet education and free helmet distribution will significantly increase helmet use in preschool children of low-income families compared to those children receiving helmet education without free helmet distribution; To test the hypothesis if helmet users in preschool children will significantly reduce head and facial injuries compared to those non-helmet users

The purpose of the study is to determine the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as a cosmetic facial injectable filler to treat tear troughs deformities secondary to volume loss and skin laxity in the infra-orbital region. Patients will receive injections of PRP on the left side, and PRP with A VectraH1 3D camera will be used to quantify the volume of the infra-orbital region before treatment, at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months post treatment. The objective is to quantify the amount of volume gained in the region as well as to assess duration of volumization after PRP treatment and also if volumization results are permanent.