Spain performs world's first full face transplant
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Spanish doctors say they have performed the world's first full face transplant on a man at Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona last month. It remains to be confirmed whether they are the first to successfully complete a full face transplant.
Dr. Joan Pere Barret and his 30 fellow doctors used both plastic surgery and micro-neurovascular reconstruction surgery techniques to give the man new facial skin, muscles, nose, lips, palate, teeth, cheekbones and the jaw. The operation lasted 24 hours.
The patient whose name and age were not released had his face disfigured in an accident and injuries left him unable to swallow, speak or breathe normally. Multiple surgeries performed earlier did not help the man.
The patient is expected to recover from the face transplant in a matter of weeks.
Isabelle Dinoire, a French woman, is believed to be the first person in the world to receive partial face transplant in Nov, 2005. The operation was performed by Professor Jean-Michel Dubernard, a plastic and microsurgeon in Amiens, France. Isabelle's face was destroyed by her pet Labrador and the dog was later killed.
In French, a 29-year-old man also underwent facial surgery in 2007. He suffered a facial tumor called a neurofibroma, which was so massive that the man could not eat or speak normally. In March 2008, Pascal Coler received what his doctors call the world's first successful full face transplant.
The second person who had received partial face transplant is a Chinese man named Li Guoxing. The 14-hour-long surgery was performed at the Xijing Hospital in 2006. The man was mauled by an Asiatic black bear attack while protecting his sheep.
It has been reported that Li Guoxing died in July 2008 in his village . The death cause was unknown, but believed to be associated with his stopping of taking any immune-suppressant drugs. He was reportedly taking herbal medication.
In the United States, Connie Culp is the first person who received a partial face transplant. Culp was shot in the face by her ex-husband with a shot gun.
Face transplant benefits people with their faces disfigured by trauma, burns, disease or birth defects. An alternative is to move the patient's own skin from their back, buttocks or thighs to their faces.
JD
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