BOSTON (AP) — A Boston hospital has performed the nation’s first full face transplant.
A team of more than 30 doctors, nurses and other staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital under the leadership of Dr. Bohdan Pomahac (POE’-ma-hawk) worked for more than 15 hours to complete the operation last week.
The operation replaced the entire facial area of 25-year-old patient Dallas Wiens (WEENS), of Fort Worth, Texas, including the nose, lips, facial skin, muscles of facial animation and the nerves that power them and provide sensation.
Betsy Nabel, president of Brigham and Women’s, called the procedure “a new milestone in … transplant surgery.”
The world’s first full-face transplant was performed in 2010 at a Spanish hospital.
