Face transplantation has been reported over the last six years, and it started in 2004 with the announcement of Cleveland Clinic granting the world's first IRB approval to proceed with human face transplantation. Composite tissue allografts (CTAs) in the facial region are considered to be more immunogenic than other solid organ transplants, so these kinds of animal experiments were also considered as challengeable activities to the facial reconstructive surgeons.
For the better understanding of CTAs in the oral and maxillofacial fields, we reviewed several recent articles about facial composite transplantation animal model, and summarized some knowledges of composite midface allotransplantation model with sensory and motor reinnervation in this review article.