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Agence France-Presse

The world’s first face transplant recipient, Frenchwoman Isabelle Dinoire, died in April “after a long illness”, a hospital announced Tuesday.
In 2005, at the age of 38, Dinoire received a graft comprising the nose, lips and chin of a brain-dead donor to replace parts of her face that had been mauled by her dog.
The hospital in Amiens, northern France, confirmed the death of “Mrs D, the first patient in the world to receive a face transplant”.
The hospital said her death had been kept quiet to protect her family’s privacy. She was 49.
Hero firefighter gets the most incredible face transplant yet, covering almost entire head
The ground-breaking operation that drew worldwide attention had raised hopes around the world for victims with faces disfigured in accidents or assaults, with surgeons in the United States, Spain, China, Belgium, Poland and Turkey going on to performing partial or full transplants after the ground-breaking surgery on Dinoire.



But the initial enthusiasm over the procedure has been tempered by a daunting risk that the patient’s body will eventually reject the donor’s tissue.
Le Figaro newspaper reported that Dinoire’s body had rejected the transplant last year “and she had lost part of the use of her lips”.
Disfigured worker’s face transplant hailed as life-saving milestone
The drugs that she had to take to prevent her body from rejecting the transplant left her susceptible to cancer, and two forms of cancer had developed, the report said.
Jean-Pierre Meningaud, of a team at a Paris hospital that has performed seven face transplants, said: “All the patients we operated on have had reactions of rejection, which leads to higher doses of drugs, and with them, the risks.”
These included “grafts that age a little faster than (the patient), problems of (skin) colour, high blood pressure (and) mood.”
Meningaud said that with Dinoire’s death, “we should put these transplants on hold pending advances in immunology”.
Dinoire gave a remarkable news conference in February 2006, just three months after the operation, when the blonde, blue-eyed mother of two appeared before a scrum of TV cameras.
She appeared to be wearing thick makeup to disguise the scars of the procedure and lips that were heavy and inflexible.
She spoke with a pronounced lisp but was otherwise comprehensible as she recounted how she had fainted after “taking medicines to forget” personal problems.
“When I woke up, I tried to light a cigarette and I couldn’t understand why it didn’t stay between my lips. Then I saw the pool of blood and the dog next to me,” she said.
“I went to look in the mirror and was horrified.”
The animal had entirely chewed off her nose and lips and much of the rest of her face.
But the ground-breaking operation gave her a new lease of life.
“Since my operation I have a face, like everyone... I will be able to resume a normal life,” the divorcee said.
The operation was led by Jean-Michel Dubernard, a world-renowned surgeon at Edouard Herriot hospital in the eastern city of Lyon, and Bernard Devauchelle, a professor of facial surgery.
Dubernard had performed the world’s first hand transplant in September 1998, followed by the first double hand and forearm transplant in January 2000.
The transplant team came under fire from within the French medical profession for releasing post-operation pictures of the patient.
At the time, a specialist in reconstructive surgery, Maurice Mimoun, recognised the emotional nature of the debate, noting the face’s “relationship with the soul”.
The first full face transplant was performed by a Spanish team in March 2010 on a man whose face was disfigured in an accident.


Isabelle Dinoire, first face transplant recipient, dies a decade after pioneering surgery

Isabelle Dinoire reveals her face to the world on February 6, 2006 file photo, 10 weeks after she received a new nose, chin and mouth in the world's first partial face transplant. Photo: AP

(FILES) This file photo taken on February 6, 2006 shows Isabelle Dinoire, the woman who received the world's first facial face transplant in Amiens, northern France, speaking during a press conference at this town's hospital. Isabelle Dinoire, who in 2005 at the age of 38 became the first recipient of a face transplant, died following a long illness on April 22, 2016 announced the hospital in Amiens on September 6, 2016, in reports confirmed by French newspaper Le Figaro. / AFP PHOTO / DENIS CHARLET

(FILES) This combination of pictures (dated, (L) February 6, 2006 and (R)from November 2006) of French Isabelle Dinoire, 39, a few months after her surgery operation carried out jointly by an Amiens and Lyon team who underwent the world's first facial face transplant, and a year later. Isabelle Dinoire, who in 2005 at the age of 38 became the first recipient of a face transplant, died following a long illness on April 22, 2016it was announced by the CHU hospital in Amiens on September 6, 2016, in reports confirmed by French newspaper Le Figaro. / AFP PHOTO / AFP & CHU AMIENS / DENIS CHARLET

Xian medical team conducts face transplant

Military hospital joins race to perform first full face transplant

Disfigured girl receives face transplant using skin grown on her chest 

Xu Jianmei after the face transplant surgery. Photo: Xinhua

Surgeons grows skin from Xu Jianmei's chest so it could be transplanted onto her face. 

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Apparent rejection of face transplant prompts calls for such surgery to be put on hold


Isabelle Dinoire, first face transplant recipient, dies a decade after pioneering surgery

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Apparent rejection of face transplant prompts calls for such surgery to be put on hold

Apparent rejection of face transplant prompts calls for such surgery to be put on hold