| ■ Cleveland Clinic Announces First U.S. Face Transplant | 2008.12.22 |
| The United States' first almost total face transplant was done a few weeks ago at the Cleveland Clinic, it was announced Tuesday. About 80 percent of a woman's face was replaced with that of a dead female donor. The procedure was performed by reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow, the Associated Press reported. The Cleveland Clinic did not release the name or age of the transplant recipient, and has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday. The world's first face transplant was conducted three years ago on a French woman who'd been mauled by her dog, the AP reported. Since then, two other face transplants have been performed: on a Chinese farmer attacked by a bear, and on a European man disfigured by a genetic condition. |