Recent findings show that face transplants, which may still be considered medical oddities by some, are quite difficult to accomplish, but have really goods odds to be succesful. The cases of successful face transplants of a Chinese man whose face was tore off by a bear and of a French-Caribbean man who was defaced by a rare disease give much hope to several people who find themselves in a similar situation.

Researchers said Thursday that the facts gathered from the recent cases show that face transplants can be a long-lasting medical intervention for those suffering from facial disfigurement. The two research teams, which revealed their findings in The Lancet medical journal, said that facial transplants are reliable and those who undergo the procedure aren’t facing a high risk of complications after the surgery and treatment.

The research report said that, although there were initial problems with tissue rejection, the two patients were able to accept their new faces, were not affected by the change at a psychological level, and rejoined society after the procedure.

The first case was of a 30-year-old man from China who was disfigured by a bear who tore off the right part of his face in October 2004. Two years after the horrific bear attack, the man underwent face transplant – his arteries and veins were reconnected and his lips, nose, sinuses were fixed. Researchers administrated him four different drugs to prevent tissue rejection and prevent infections.

"Facial transplantation could be successful in the short term, but the procedure is not without complications... This case suggests facial transplantation might be an option for restoring a severely disfigured face and could enable patients to readily integrate themselves back into society," said Shuzhong Guo, of the Institute of Plastic Surgery, Xijing Hospital and Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an, Forbes reported.

In the second case, a 29-year-old man from France was disfigured by neurofibroma, a facial tumor. He underwent transplantation surgery in early 2007 as doctors had to remove a large part of the patient’s face and replace with donor tissue. Just like in the first case, doctors managed to control the acute tissue rejection which occurred in the early stages of the procedure. The patient was able to move and feel his face about one year after the transplant.

"Our case confirms that face transplantation is surgically feasible and effective for the correction of specific disfigurement,” said Laurent Lantieri, of the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery, CHU Henri Mondor in Creteil.