Surgeons in the US have performed what they claim is the most
extensive full-face transplant yet performed, repairing the face
of a 37-year-old man who lost his lips and nose 15 years ago in
a gunshot accident. The graft could reveal better ways to stop a
patient's body rejecting donated tissue. Richard Lee Norris of
Hillsville, Virginia, received almost the entire face from a
donor. The donated tissue ran from the scalp and included all
elements of the face down to – but not including – the collar
bones. It also contained the bones of both jaws, teeth devoid of
any fillings, and the third of the tongue extending to its tip.
"All these segments have been transplanted in the past and the
other groups of surgeons have led the way for us, but no one has
included all these components," says lead surgeon Eduardo
Rodriguez of the University of Maryland Medical Center in
Baltimore, where the 36-hour operation took place on 19 and 20
March. The other major innovation is the inclusion in the jaws
of the donor's bone m