Jane23
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 Posted: 12/02/05 - 16:35 Post subject: The world’s first face transplant |
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The first face transplant in the world has been performed on Sunday and Monday in France. It was carried out on a 36-year-old female who lost her nose, lips and chin when she was attacked by a dog at her home.
The skin on her face was replaced with a donor’s tissue who had been declared brain dead. The donor was matched for facial colouring and skin texture, but as the bone structure plays an important part of an individual's appearance, she won’t look like the donor.
There is a very big risk of rejecting the transplant; some experts suspect that the risk may be as high as 50% within 5 to 10 years. If serious complications emerge, the tissue will have to be removed.
However, 48 hours after the transplant, the woman is alive and in the intensive care. She will have to stay in the hospital for another few weeks in order to avoid the possible infections and complications.
The recovery will be long and she will need to take drugs for the rest of her life to suppress her immune system.
This operation will bring on ethical and moral debate, which has already surrounded the research into face transplants.
Only in the UK, there are more than 400,000 people living with facial deformity. |
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