first face transplant in the US

Face transplants, used to treat birth defects, burns, and other diseases, are making significant advances:

Cleveland Clinic surgeons have performed the nation’s first near total face transplant, officials said on Tuesday. The patient is a woman who was not identified.

Three partial face transplants have been performed since 2005, two in France and one in China. All have involved using facial tissue from a dead donor with permission from their families.

The Cleveland surgical team, led by Dr. Maria Siemionow, said it had replaced about 80 percent of the patient’s face with that of a dead woman in the last two weeks. The doctors offered no details on the patient, but said they would discuss her surgery at a news conference on Wednesday. full article