| ■ Doctors Perform 1st Face Transplant Including Eyelids, Tear Ducts | 2010.07.09 |
| A 35-year-old man who underwent the world's first full-face transplant including eyelids and tear ducts is doing well, according to the French doctor who did the surgery. Dr. Laurent Lantieri performed the transplant June 27 at the Henri Mondor Hospital in the Paris suburb of Creteil. Neither he nor the hospital provided any more information about the patient, who has a genetic disorder, or the donor, the Associated Press reported. Experts said the transplant further advances efforts to provide new faces and lives for disfigured patients. This is a "considerable achievement," said Neil Huband, a spokesman for the U.K. Facial Transplantation Research Team, based at the Royal Free Hospital in London, the AP reported. This is the 12th face transplant worldwide since the first successful one was performed in France in 2005. In that case, doctors replaced the nose, mouth and chin of a woman whose face had been disfigured by a dog attack. |