Source: CCTV.com

05-08-2009 10:28

Special Report:   Tech Max

BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhuanet) -- An Ohio woman, who underwent near-total surgery on her face after a shot gun blast from her husband five years ago left her without a nose, revealed the results of her surgery for the first time before public.

Connie Culp(L), who underwent the first face transplant surgery in the US, is helped to the podium by her head surgeon, Dr. Maria Siemionow, right, and Pat Lock, a nurse with the transplant team, center, before speaking to the media at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (Photo Source: China Daily/Agencies)
Connie Culp(L), who underwent the first face transplant surgery in
the US, is helped to the podium by her head surgeon, Dr. Maria
Siemionow, right, and Pat Lock, a nurse with the transplant team, 
center, before speaking to the media at a news conference at the
Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (Photo
Source: China Daily/Agencies)

Connie Culp, a 46-year-old mother-of-two, is the recipient of the first U.S. almost-total face transplant that took place last December and lasted 22 hours at the Cleveland Clinic in the state of Ohio.

Surgeons transplanted about 80 percent of Culp's face using facial tissue from a dead woman that was placed like a mask atop her own. Almost her entire face was replaced, except for the forehead, upper eyelids, lower lip and chin.

Culp was left without the middle section of her face after a shotgun blast in 2004.

The team of 11 surgeons who performed the operation said Culp, who was missing bone support and had been unable to eat or breathe without a tube in her windpipe, could now perform functions normally.

Culp, whose identity had been previously withheld, paid tribute to the donor family at a news conference.

This is a photo of Connie Culp, after an injury to her face(L), and then as she appears today. 
This is a photo of Connie Culp, after an injury to her face(L), and then
as she appears today. 

"I guess I'm the one you came to see today, " she told reporters but added, "I think it's more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person's face."

The transplant is only the fourth to be carried out. Two operations have been conducted in France and one in China.



-- Click for more news in Tech Max >>


This is a photo of Connie Culp, after an injury to her face(L), and then as she appears today. Culp is underwent the first face transplant surgery the United States at the Cleveland Clinic in December 2008. Culp spoke to the media at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. The 46-year-old mother of two lost most of the midsection of her face to a gunshot in 2004.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
This is a photo of Connie Culp, after an injury to her face(L), and then
as she appears today. Culp is underwent the first face transplant surgery
the United States at the Cleveland Clinic in December 2008. Culp spoke 
to the media at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, 
on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. The 46-year-old mother of two lost most of
the midsection of her face to a gunshot in 2004.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

 

Connie Culp is under surgery.
Connie Culp is under surgery.

-- Click for more news in Tech Max >>

 


This undated photo of Connie Culp, before the injury to her face would lead her to become the first face transplant patient in the United States. Culp spoke to the media at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. The 46-year-old mother of two lost most of the midsection of her face to a gunshot in 2004. The initial surgery by the Cleveland Clinic team took place in December 2008.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
This undated photo of Connie Culp, before the injury
to her face would lead her to become the first face
transplant patient in the United States. Culp spoke
to the media at a news conference at the Cleveland
Clinic in Cleveland on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. The 
46-year-old mother of two lost most of the mids-
ection of her face to a gunshot in 2004. The initial
surgery by the Cleveland Clinic team took place in
December 2008.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)


-- Click for more news in Tech Max >>

 


 




 

 

Editor:Yang Jie