Chinese Face Transplant Patient Dies

Last Updated (Wednesday, 22 April 2009 07:59) Written by Administrator Monday, 25 August 2008 18:33

Chinese Face Transplant Patient Dies

It was recently reported that Li Guoxing, a Chinese patient, who underwent a partial face transplant in April of 2006 has died.

This patient underwent allograft transplantation of his cheek, upper lip, and nose, which was severely damaged after being mauled by a bear while protecting his sheep. The operation was the first reported of its kind in China. It took place at the Xijing military hospital in Xian, China.

The patient died in July of 2008 at his home in the mountainous Yunnan province in southwestern China. Recently the patient ceased take immune-system drugs in favor of herbal medicine. His surgeon Guo Shuzhong reported this in a statement to the Agence France-Presse (AFP).  Qiao Guangliang, chief of the patient’s village in Yunnan province, has also confirmed the death. The exact cause of death was unknown and no autopsy has been performed.