Richard Norris receives most extensive full face transplant to date (PHOTO, VIDEO)
This image shows Richard Norris after his surgery. His pre-op disfigurations have almost entirely disappeared.
Doctors at the University of Maryland have carried out what they describe as the most extensive facial transplant yet performed, successfully giving an entirely new face to a man disfigured in a gun accident.
Richard Norris, 37, of Hillsville, Virginia, underwent the 36-hour operation just over a week ago and is said to be recovering well.
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Norris lost his nose, lips, teeth and part of his tongue in a 1997 gun accident that left him disfigured beyond recognition. According to the Washington Post, he has spent the 15 years since then living as a recluse, hidden behind a surgical mask.
Surgeons were unable to reconstruct fully what remained of his face, and so suggested he consider becoming a candidate for facial transplantation.
A suitable donor became available on March 17, and the marathon operation began two days later.
Doctors first removed the damaged areas and then replaced them with the transplant. Everything from Norris's hairline down to his collar bone was replaced, ABC News reported, including the upper and lower jaws, teeth, tongue, and underlying muscles, nerves and blood vessels.
A week on, Norris is able to move his jaws and tongue, open and close his eyes, brush his teeth and shave, his doctors told a press conference yesterday. He has also regained his sense of smell, which he had lost in the damage to his nose.
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Norris is delighted with the results, according to Eduardo Rodriguez, the surgeon who led the face transplant team. After asking to see a mirror, Rodriguez said, Norris "put the mirror down and thanked me and hugged me." (See the before and after pictures here.)
He will remain in hospital for another month and under observation for much longer, the Post reported, as doctors watch for any signs that his body is rejecting the transplant.
The research that made the operation possible was funded by the Defense Department's Office of Naval Research, with a view to helping veterans disfigured in war, the University of Maryland said. According to the Associated Press, the US government estimates that 200 veterans might be eligible for face transplants.
Watch video about the operation:
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