The U.S has preformed its first face transplant in a Cleveland, Ohio Clinic.
According to a spokesperson at the hospital, Dr. Siemionow replaced about 80 percent of a woman’s face making her the second person in the world to receive such surgery.
The hospital is not releasing the patient’s identity and the reason why her face was disfigured, but in a released statement, they said the patient would require taking immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of her life.
The World’s first face transplant patient occurred three years ago in France.
Burn and severe trauma patients have long needed better options, but “the ethics are really controversial” for face transplants, said Dr. Jeffrey Guy, director of the Burn Center at Vanderbilt University.
Face transplant surgery has become controversial since the procedure is more about quality of life than saving a life says Dr. Bohdan Pomahac.
The Ohio clinic plans a news conference Wednesday and would not give details until then.
