Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
In a first for China, man gets new face
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 15, 2006
BEIJING - A man whose face was badly disfigured after an attack by a black bear received a partial face transplant Friday, in what a hospital described as a first for China.
The hospital's claims, if verified by independent experts, would make China the second country to conduct the procedure.
The partial face transplant came only half a year after doctors in Amiens, France, performed the world's first such procedure, transplanting lips, a chin and a nose onto a woman who had been attacked by a dog.
In Friday's operation, a statement from Xijing Hospital in the central city of Xian said Li Guoxing was given a new cheek, upper lip, nose and eyebrow from a single donor. No details were provided about the donor.
"Up to now, the patient is in good condition," the military hospital said. "The operation was successful. It is predicted that the wounds can be healed within one week."
The procedure underscores China's growing scientific prowess while raising questions about its patchy regulation of medical experiments.
Chinese and foreign experts have previously criticized the government for lax oversight of research and said that the push for breakthroughs was creating ethical problems. The government tightened regulations on research and clinical drug trials after Chinese reporters accused a U.S.-funded project of conducting research on asthma medication without the proper consent of farmers in central China in the 1990s.
Photos released by the hospital showed the extent of Li's injuries, his right eye nearly closed and the cheek and lip below badly ripped, exposing pink flesh.
Li's surgery began Thursday and was completed Friday morning.
Additional details, including how doctors found Li and whether he had consented to the publicity, were not immediately available.
For before and after photos of the face transplant victim go to links.tampabay.com.
[Last modified April 15, 2006, 00:53:01]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
