French Doctors Perform First Partial Face Transplant
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:03 am
Reminds me of Nip/Tuck last week
LYON, France � Doctors have performed the world's first partial face transplant, grafting a nose, lips and chin onto a patient disfigured by a dog bite, two French hospitals said Wednesday.
The surgery on the 38-year-old woman was performed Sunday, said a statement from medics at hospitals in Lyon and Amiens. The surgery was performed in Amiens in northern France, but doctors from both hospitals participated.
The statement said the woman was in "excellent" condition, and the transplanted organs looked "normal."
The woman was disfigured by a dog bite in May. The organs were taken from a donor who was brain dead, with the family's consent, the statement said.
Experts say the mouth and nose are the most difficult parts of the face to transplant.
Doctors elsewhere have performed scalp and ear transplants.