Only three partial face transplants have been performed in the world, two in France and one in China. Recently, the surgeons from Cleveland Clinic have also conducted a partial face transplant.

Face transplants consist of transplanting tissue from one person to another, and the entire operation is very tricky as the organism has the tendency to reject foreign tissue. Face transplants pose a number of problems, from which the most important is that the patient must use special drugs for the rest of his life. These drugs will help the patient’s body not reject the foreign tissue that was transplanted.

The problem is that if at any point the drugs fail to do their jobs, doctors can do very little to help that person out. Another issue is concerned with ethics, as a face transplant can have severe psychological effects. A person should be carefully examined before and only if it turns out that the patient is strong enough to deal with a new face looking back from the mirror, doctors should proceed with the operation.

In an interview with Larry King, Doctor Maria Siemionow gave more information regarding the procedure and announced that, though the patient hasn’t yet seen the results, she was able to touch her new face and seemed happy with the operation.

The woman had suffered great facial trauma losing her nose and cheekbones and this was the only way for her to regain most of her functions.
The procedure was extremely difficult and the success of the operation is a real breakthrough in the world of medicine.