A Frenchwoman who received the world’s first partial face transplant has died, 11 years after the surgery that set the stage for dozens of other transplants worldwide.
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Doctors at Amiens University Hospital have only just confirmed that she died in April following a “long illness”.
Dinoire fell ill last winter after her body rejected a new skin graft, leaving her with limited function in her lips.
Dinoire had suffered from graft rejection, and previous year “she had lost part of the use of her lips”, Le Figaro newspaper had reported.
French surgeons Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard and Dr. Bernard Devauchelle made a decision to carry out the operation to stitch on a nose, chin and mouth from a brain-dead donor, and opted out of the more traditional reconstructive surgery route.
Figaro newspaper said she had suffered another transplant rejection.
The injuries she suffered were so severe doctors opted against a facial reconstruction and chose to perform a face transplant.
Just three months after the surgery, the mother of two appeared before TV cameras for a news conference.
“When I woke up, I tried to light a cigarette and I couldn’t understand why it didn’t stay between my lips”, she said.
“I went to look in the mirror and was horrified”.
Ms Dinoire said she was happy with the transplant but expressed unhappiness at the level of interest in her following the operation. “Then I saw the pool of blood and the dog next to me”.
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The surgery paved the way for other transplants involving varying combinations of facial parts performed in six other countries, including the United States.
