Face transplant doctors recount recovery

December 14, 2007

The medical team that performed the first face transplant says their French patient is satisfied with the results of the 2005 operation.

Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard said Isabelle Dinoire has recovered with remarkably good aesthetic results and regained normal skin sensation and control of her facial muscles, The Washington Post reported.

Dinoire was 38-years-old when a dog mauled off most of her face. A donor face was attached during a 15-hour surgery.

The medical team, reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine, said Dinoire's recovery has not been easy. Twice her immune system has mounted violent reactions against the new tissue, and the immune-suppressing drugs have caused infections and kidney failure.

Despite the difficulties, Dinoire says she is satisfied with the result, the report said.

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