Kanavero and Spiridonov do not lose optimism

Alexey Bogdanovsky, RIA Novosti 

Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero, who dreams of performing the world's first human head transplant operation, and his potential patient from Russia Valery Spiridonov met for the first time on Friday in the United States. Kanavero, in the presence of Spiridonov, spoke before the conference of surgeons with a vivid presentation of the technology with which he hopes to perform the operation in about two years. The majority of the conference participants interviewed by RIA Novosti believe that Canavero has not demonstrated a technology ready for implementation, but the patient and the surgeon believe in the realization of their dreams.

"I have a detailed plan"Valery Spiridonov, suffering from incurable spinal atrophy, an engineer from Vladimir, met Canavero some time ago on the Internet, but they met for the first time at the entrance to a hotel in Annapolis, the capital of Maryland.

Soon after, Valery joined Canavero, who spoke at a conference of the American Academy of Neurosurgeons and Orthopedic Surgeons. Thirty-year-old Valery was wearing a white turtleneck and looked very exhausted after the first long trip in his life. During the more than two-hour presentation, Valery, using a joystick, slowly turned his wheelchair to the right, then to the left to keep track of Kanavero, who literally flew around the hall. Canavero, a short, fit man with a goatee, round glasses, light jeans and a brown shirt unbuttoned by two buttons, resembled Steve Jobs in appearance and, it seems, repeated the manner of presentation of the late founder of Apple, only adding emotions. Canavero spoke passionately, clapped his hands, gesticulated, screamed with enthusiasm. He talked for more than two hours, but only told a little about the essence of the method he proposed.

"Let's be modest, let's not rush to judgment, let's strive for progress!" – urged Canavero. Trying to prove to surgeons that it is possible to perform a head (or body, which is the same thing in this case) transplant, Canavero enthusiastically said that geniuses were wrong and that many fateful discoveries of the past initially seemed impossible. Canavero quoted poets and philosophers, US President John F. Kennedy and a dozen and a half studies of the last century and a little, which on a small sample and individual cases of medical practice suggested the possibility of rapid regeneration of the spinal cord.

Canavero talked a lot about the fact that his technique can not only give a new body to Valery Spiridonov, but also make a revolution in people's lives. "I am here because the greatest race in the history of mankind has begun," Canavero announced. "I cannot deny that my goal is to prolong life," the surgeon added.

Canavero briefly described his proposed method of merging a person's head with an extraneous body: using ultrathin scalpels to separate the body from the head and quickly connect the spinal cord of another body. At the point of fusion, it is planned to use polyethylene glycol as an adhesive – a common polymer that is used in cosmetics and fuel, and is also included in the number of food additives. Kanavero is convinced that if this technology is followed, the head will not be rejected by the body, and the spinal cord cells will recover, so that in a month the patient's brain will be able, after waking up from a month-long artificial coma, to control its new body.

Canavero said that it is in America that he expects support for his idea. "I ask you Americans to make your contribution – I have made my contribution, I have spent thirty years of my life!" the doctor said. "I have a detailed plan," he added, calling on surgeons to discuss the possibility of creating working groups on the major problems of the operation "right here and now." He also expressed hope that billionaire businessmen such as Bill Gates would help him.

However, Canavero avoided technical questions from specialists, referring to the complexity of a specialized discussion in the presence of the press. When asked by one of the surgeons why he did not want to use his technology first to treat paralyzed people, Canavero answered for a long time and sharply that this goal did not contradict his dream of a head transplant.

"We have a great future together"Valery Spiridonov told reporters that he was still confident in the success of the operation.

"We have a great future together. Together with Sergio (Canavero), we will work to make this a reality," the engineer told reporters, overcoming fatigue after a transatlantic flight. "I have no fear. I am an engineer and I understand that there are steps that are needed for success, and we will take them," he added.

Spiridonov suffers from the Werdnig-Hoffman syndrome – a severe genetic disease that leads to a constant weakening of the muscles and gradually deprives a person of the ability to move, and in the future – and vital functions of the body. Spiridonov made it clear that he was ready for any risks due to his difficult situation. "Imagine yourself in my place – and you will understand why I am doing this," he told reporters.

Regarding the body that he should receive after surgery, Spiridonov has no special requirements: "This body should be a little healthier than mine," the Russian clarified. Kanavero and Spiridonov hope to carry out the operation in 2017. However, this will require huge funding, which is not available at this stage. And, even if Canavero's spinal cord fusion technique works, a number of additional breakthrough discoveries in medicine will be required before surgery becomes possible. In particular, Canavero did not say anything in his report about the restoration of blood supply to the brain and the parasympathetic nervous system, without which it is impossible to restore the motor functions of the body, did not describe in detail how he was going to stimulate the patient's brain to restore nerve cells.

Many surgeons who attended the congress spoke about their sympathies for Spiridonov. "When he volunteers for something like this, for (an operation) that has never been done before, I can imagine what he had to go through. Obviously, this is better for him than the life he lives," Chand Ramaya, a surgeon from Tennessee, told RIA Novosti.

"Transplantation appeared because there was always a madman"Despite the general sympathy for the patient, surgeons were generally skeptical about Canavero's report.

Some left the hall during the report with an indignant expression on their faces. After the Italian's speech, a number of surgeons told the RIA Novosti correspondent that the operation is possible in principle, but that now the technologies for it have not been fully developed.

Some believe that the technology is, in principle, viable, but it needs to be funded. "It all starts with research. Many years ago, we doubted Bill Gates – why do we need a computer? And now we can't live without him. We need funding and we need to adjust the methodology somewhat, as well as adjust the state policy regarding transplantation," said neurosurgeon Chirico Torres from Texas.

Robert Matthews, a surgeon from Pennsylvania, recalled that Canavero had not worked out a number of additional techniques – for example, connecting the bone structure and blood vessels. According to him, even for the key technology of spinal cord fusion, new breakthrough suturing technologies are needed, which are not available now. "This is interesting, based on certain scientific breakthroughs, there is an opportunity to hope that this will be possible in the future. I doubt that this can be done by 2017 without a lot of effort, it would require the efforts of a great power such as Russia, the United States, and other countries such as Germany and China to join this," Matthews said.

Others consider the technology proposed by Canavero, in principle, unviable at this stage. "My opinion is that he (Canavero) has a dream, he can achieve it. It won't be easy to do. This will require a lot of new (inventions), long preparation. I am skeptical, mainly because the spinal cord cannot be fused in the way we are talking about," Kazem Fati, a neurosurgeon from Nevada, told RIA Novosti.

Surgeon Chand Ramaya from Tennessee said that it would not be possible to prepare such an operation in two years. "Financing is also a problem, but technical and scientific problems, in my opinion, are also not resolved. I don't think it's that easy to cut, attach, apply a certain number of stitches. There are many complex things that need to be connected and make the spinal cord grow. If it worked so simply, millions of people would not be paralyzed and would walk," Ramaya said. However, he made a reservation that initially each transplant seemed to be a scientific madness.

"That's how transplantation appeared – because there was a madman who was ready to work on it. I don't think it's going to work right now. But he (Canavero) can invent new (techniques) in two years, it's possible," Ramaya believes.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
16.06.2015