French doctors today 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 on Sunday at a hospital in Amiens, northern France, said a joint statement from the hospital and another in the southern city of Lyon.
It said doctors from the two hospitals worked together. The statement said the woman was in "excellent" condition and that the transplanted organs look "normal."
Scientists elsewhere have performed scalp and ear transplants in the past. However, the claims is the first for a mouth and nose transplant. Experts say the mouth and nose are the most difficult parts of the face to transplant.
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 hospitals said.
AP
