Face Transplant Patient Leaves Cleveland Hospital

(NEWSER) - The nation's first face-transplant recipient met the public for the first time since her December operation, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Connie Culp, who had been shot by her husband in 2004 and essentially lost the middle of her face, has "progressed tremendously," said one of her doctors at the Cleveland Clinic. Today, Culp can breathe and eat on her own and eventually will be able to smile. More»

Surgery called most complex yet

(NEWSER) - A Virginia man who suffered a gun accident has undergone a face transplant at the University of Maryland, and doctors say it's the most extensive such operation yet. The surgery required input from 300 health workers and took more than a day to complete, the Baltimore Sun reports. Doctors used donor skin, teeth, jaw, tongue, and other tissue to reconstruct Richard Lee Norris's face after the patient lost his nose, chin, lips, and teeth in 1997. More»

Charla Nash hopes to undergo additional reconstructive surgery

(NEWSER) - Charla Nash, who was mauled and blinded by a friend’s chimpanzee in February 2009, left the Cleveland Clinic yesterday. She “has made great progress in her recovery,” the hospital said in a statement. Nash will continue rehabilitation at a Boston-area assisted-living center and hopes to undergo more reconstructive surgery, the AP reports. In January, the Cleveland Clinic told Nash’s family it could not perform a face and hand transplant. More»

Gunshot farmer gets total makeover

(NEWSER) - A farmer who accidentally shot himself is the first person in the world to receive a full face transplant. The man, in his 30s, is regaining the ability to speak and swallow after receiving facial skin and muscles, and a new jawbone, nose, palate, and cheekbones from a brain-dead donor, the Times of London reports. More»

Landmark operation in clinic where docs performed world's first face transplant

(NEWSER) - A burn victim has received a new face and hands in a ground-breaking transplant surgery in France, reports the Times of London. A team of 40 doctors worked 30 hours in the same Paris hospital that performed the world's first face transplant in 2005 and first hand transplant in 1998. The new hands were grafted above the patient's wrists, and his nose, eyelids, forehead, scalp and ears were replaced. The 30-year-old man suffered horrific burns in 2004. More»