First face transplant done in the U.S.

Two weeks ago was the very first face transplant done in the United States. It was done by eight surgeons in Cleveland, Ohio. Eighty percent of the face was reconstructed, all except the woman's forehead and chin. Siemionow, who is the head of surgery research at the Cleveland Clinic, has been cleared to perform the full face transplant, but hadn't found the right patient until now. In this type of transplant, the donors face "flap" is attached, including the veins, arteries, and nerves. In any situation, the patients body could reject the connection. The recipient also has to take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their life, to forever prevent rejection of the tissue. Face transplants are usually done to people who have had trauma or accidents in the face. France and China have both completed face transplants, one victim was mauled by a dog and the other attacked by a bear. Face transplanting is a risky procedure, and has caused a lot of controversy since the first done in France. Generally, the face looks pretty different after the procedure, considering it is different skin with a different thickness. After these surgeries many people don't go outside and become depressed, and some consider suicide. The surgery is to give these people lives, and they are lucky to have the opportunity to still have one.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/17/face.transplant/index.html