Partial Face Transplant Done in France
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James Joyner | Wednesday, November 30, 2005 |
Sadly, Jacques Chirac was not involved.
Partial Face Transplant Done in France (AP)
Doctors have performed the world’s first partial face transplant, grafting a nose, lips and chin onto a 38-year-old woman disfigured by a dog bite, hospital officials said Wednesday. The surgery 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 hospitals’ statement said the woman was in “excellent” condition, and the transplanted organs looked “normal.” She wants to remain anonymous, the statement added. The woman was disfigured by a dog bite in May, and the injury made it difficult for her 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 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.
Fascinating. The piece goes into substantial detail about the difficulties and ethical concerns involved in the procedure.
Jokes about a certain Nicolas Cage-John Travolta epic will surely be forthcoming.
Update (12/4): Face Transplant Recipientâs New Face Came from Suicide
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Or perhaps jokes about "saving face."
Or maybe it'll provide a new chance for societies in which losing face is a major deal?
But man... transplant rejection isn't going to be pretty.
It would surely be banned in the US, for the sake of Homeland Security.
Then of course there is always the race card...
'What do you mean you don't want my lips... Why, because they are African American ?'
OK, let's make an agreement right now; Nobody tell Weird Al Yankovic about this one.
I always thought Chirac needed face reduction surgery, personally.
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