TMCnet News
China 'does a face transplant'(Daily Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)A CHINESE man has become the world's second face transplant patient, a hospital claimed yesterday. According to a statement from Xijing Military Hospital in the city of Xi'an, 30-year-old Li Guoxing was given a new cheek, upper lip, nose and eyebrow from a single donor. The surgery started on Thursday afternoon and was completed on Friday morning, the hospital said. 'The patient is in good condition. The operation was successful and it is predicted that the wounds can be healed within one week,' a statement added. Mr Guoxing's face was disfigured after an encounter with a black bear in the southern province of Yunnan two years ago. Photographs released by the hospital claimed to reveal the extent of his injuries. One showed Mr Guoxing's right eye nearly closed and his cheek and lip badly ripped. Another showed the patient after the operation, with his face puffy and scars running from his lower left ear above his nose to his right ear and around his chin. The operation, if verified by independent experts, underscores China's growing scientific prowess. It comes six months after doctors in France performed the world's first face transplant on 38-year-old Isabelle Dinoire, a motheroftwo who had been attacked by a dog. While China's medical research has won praise from scientists abroad, some foreign experts have criticised the government's patchy regulations for experiments and claimed its push for breakthroughs was creating ethical problems. |