French burns victim first to get hands and face transplant

Paris, Apr.7 (ANI): A 30-year-old French man has become the first to receive two new hands and a new face after groundbreaking burn transplant surgery.

Forty doctors, working in two teams, took 30 hours to complete the simultaneous grafts at Henri Mondor Hospital in Créteil, Paris, at the weekend, reports The Times.

French surgeons also performed the world's first hand transplant, in 1998, and first face transplant in 2005.

Health officials said that Laurent Lantiéri had led the team that carried out the face transplant, while Christian Dumontier oversaw the double hand transplant.

A spokesman for the Paris Hospital Authority said that the hands had been grafted on to the patient above his wrists while the entire upper part of the man's face - including his nose, eyelids, forehead, scalp and ears - was also replaced.

Previous face transplants all involved the lower part of the face.

Officials said that the man had been burnt in an accident in 2004, which had "prevented him from having any sort of social life".

Professor Lantiéri described the operation as a success and said that the patient's general condition was good. He will remain in intensive care for a fortnight. (ANI)