Chinese hospital performs world's second face swap

A Chinese man whose face was badly disfigured after an attack by a black bear was recovering yesterday after receiving a partial face transplant, in a cutting-edge medical procedure that a hospital statement described as a first for China.

A statement from Xijing Hospital, a military hospital in the central city of Xian, said Li Guoxing (李國興) was given a new cheek, upper lip, nose, and an eyebrow from a single donor on Friday. No details were given about the donor.

"Up to now, the patient is in good condition," the statement said. "The operation was successful. It is predicted that the wounds can be healed within one week."

The hospital's claims, if verified by independent experts, would make China the second country to conduct the procedure. But it also underscores China's growing scientific prowess while raising questions about its patchy regulation of medical experiments.

"China always has a group of people who like to be on the cutting-edge of scientific development," said William Hsiao, a health economist at Harvard University who researches Chinese public health.

Over the past decade, the government has poured money into advanced scientific fields, from aerospace to biotechnology, directing grant money and pooling resources to create research centers to rival the West. China is only the third country with a successful manned space program, and its gene research has won praise from scientists abroad.

The partial face transplant comes only half a year after doctors in Amiens, France, performed the world's first such procedure, transplanting lips, a chin and a nose on to a woman who had been attacked by a dog.

In its statement, the Chinese hospital said Li had been badly mauled in an encounter with a black bear in the southern province of Yunnan two years ago.

Photos released by the hospital showed the extent of Li's injuries, his right eye nearly closed and the cheek and lip badly ripped exposing pink flesh. Another photo showed Li, after the operation, lying with a tube in his mouth, his face puffy and with surgical scars.