A medical first to take place in 2018

A Chinese patient will benefit the world’s first head transplant

As the procedure has been delayed from December 2017 until the first quarter of 2018 and the Russian volunteer Valery Spiridonov announced that he decided not to undergo the procedure, the Italian neurosurgeon Segio Canavaro declared that “the surgery will be carried out on a Chinese patient instead”.

The surgery will take place in Harbin, China and the team will be seconded by Dr. Xiaoping Ren of Harbin Medical University. The solution that the two doctors believe in is called polyethylene glycol (PEG), a glue that can reconnect severed body parts.

Despite critics, Dr. Canavaro has faith that the result will be positive, thanks to the wide experience of experts in the U.S., South Korea and China joining forces in order to make the procedure a successful reality.

Meanwhile, the first volunteer of the project, Valery Spiridonov, will seek alternative help for his spinal problem, hoping that one day he will walk again and gain a normal life.