Positive results were reported on two cases where the patients had face transplant surgeries.

A Chinese man whose face was torn off by a bear and a French Caribbean man whose face was disfigured by a tumor had face transplants done and both were successful reported researchers. Two separate research teams reported in the Lancet medical journal that despite recurrent tissue rejection problems, transplants did not have any major problems and were long lasting.

Only three people world over have had face transplants the first was on French woman Isabelle Dinoire in November 2005. Isabelle was disfigured in an attack by her dog and last year, her doctors reported that she had overcome two episodes of rejection to recover at a slow but steady pace.

A 30 year old Chinese man was the second to receive a transplant in April 2006 when his face was disfigured by a bear attack in October 2004. The surgery involved connection of arteries and veins as well as repair of nose, lip, sinuses and other bony structures damaged in the face. The patient had to take four different drugs to minimize chances of tissue rejection and help his immune system and drugs to prevent infection setting in.

An article authored by Shuzhong Guo of the Institute of Plastic Surgery, Xijing Hospital and Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an, China, and colleagues reported that there were some initial complications with tissue rejection at three months, five months, and 17 months after surgery which were controlled with medications and now he was doing well.

"This case suggests that facial transplantation might be an option for restoring a severely disfigured face, and could enable patients to readily reintegrate themselves back into society," Shuzhong Guo and colleagues at Xijing hospital in China reported.

The third case was of a 29 year old who suffered from a rare tumor that deforms the face called Recklinghausen disease. His middle and lower face was disfigured making it difficult for him to talk. The French doctors operated on him in 2007 and gave him a new nose, mouth and chin said the goal was to improve the appearance of his face and the functioning as well. This study was authored by Laurent Lantieri in the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery at CHU Henri Mondor in Creteil, France.

In this case there were two rejections on the 28th and 64th day post surgery which were successfully managed with medication. A year after the surgery the function has improved with motor function returning to the transplanted area. The patient’s pyscological recovery was so good that he could reintegrate back into society completely and even began full time work as an accounting agent 13 months post transplant.

"Our case confirms that face transplantation is surgically feasible and effective for the correction of specific disfigurement," wrote Dr. Lantieri and colleagues. These findings give new hope to people who have severe facial disfigurement.