鈥淚 have now a face like everyone else,鈥� declared Isabelle Dinoire, confronting the world鈥檚 press on Monday after becoming the world鈥檚 first face transplant recipient in November 2005.
Except that, by definition, her face is not like everyone else鈥檚. A triangular flap of tissue containing her nose, lips and chin once belonged to another woman from Lille who committed suicide shortly before the operation took place.
But Dinoire is doing well, say surgeons who stitched on the graft. 鈥淪he is normal, except for maybe a little insensitivity [on her face],鈥� surgeon Bernard Devauchelle told reporters prior to a press conference at the Amiens Teaching Hospital in France, where the operation took place.
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Dinoire lost her chin, lips and nose when she was mauled by her pet Labrador in June 2005. But despite the controversy surrounding the transplantation procedure, Devauchelle and his colleague Jean-Michel Dubernard from the Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon say it was the only way that any facial or lip function could be restored.
To this end, they transplanted not just skin, but also underlying muscle and nerves that they hope will connect with Dinoire鈥檚 tissue, enabling her to learn to move her lips and speak properly.
At the press conference, Dinoire said she is beginning to recover many of her facial functions. 鈥淎t the moment, I can open my mouth and eat and use my lips and nose,鈥� she said. 鈥淗owever, I have to continue my exercises and take medication to use my facial muscles.鈥�
