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WTF?
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/11/30/france.face.ap/index.html
LYON, France (AP) -- French doctors on Wednesday claimed a world-first partial face transplant, saying a nose, lips and chin were grafted onto a 38-year-old woman disfigured by a dog bite.
The surgery was performed Sunday at a hospital in Amiens, northern France, according to a joint statement from the hospital and another in the southern city of Lyon. It said doctors from the two hospitals worked together.
The woman was in "excellent" condition and that the transplanted organs look "normal," the statement said. She wants to remain anonymous, it said.
Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard, one of the surgeons who collaborated on the transplant, told The Associated Press when reached Wednesday that the transplant was the world's first of its kind.
But "we still don't know when the patient will get out," he said. He refused to give any other details, saying they would have to wait until a Friday news conference.
Scientists elsewhere have performed scalp and ear transplants in the past. However, the claim is the first for a mouth and nose transplant. Experts say the mouth and nose the most difficult parts of the face to transplant.
The woman was disfigured by a dog bite in May that made it difficult for the woman to speak and chew, the statement said. Such injuries are "extremely difficult, if not impossible" to repair using normal surgical techniques, it added.
The organs were taken from a donor who was brain dead, with the family's consent, the hospitals said. Dr. Dubernard collaborated with Dr. Bernard Devauchelle in the transplant, the hospitals said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/11/30/france.face.ap/index.html
LYON, France (AP) -- French doctors on Wednesday claimed a world-first partial face transplant, saying a nose, lips and chin were grafted onto a 38-year-old woman disfigured by a dog bite.
The surgery was performed Sunday at a hospital in Amiens, northern France, according to a joint statement from the hospital and another in the southern city of Lyon. It said doctors from the two hospitals worked together.
The woman was in "excellent" condition and that the transplanted organs look "normal," the statement said. She wants to remain anonymous, it said.
Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard, one of the surgeons who collaborated on the transplant, told The Associated Press when reached Wednesday that the transplant was the world's first of its kind.
But "we still don't know when the patient will get out," he said. He refused to give any other details, saying they would have to wait until a Friday news conference.
Scientists elsewhere have performed scalp and ear transplants in the past. However, the claim is the first for a mouth and nose transplant. Experts say the mouth and nose the most difficult parts of the face to transplant.
The woman was disfigured by a dog bite in May that made it difficult for the woman to speak and chew, the statement said. Such injuries are "extremely difficult, if not impossible" to repair using normal surgical techniques, it added.
The organs were taken from a donor who was brain dead, with the family's consent, the hospitals said. Dr. Dubernard collaborated with Dr. Bernard Devauchelle in the transplant, the hospitals said.
