Isabelle
Dinoire, a Frenchwoman who received the world's first partial face
transplant, has died more than a decade after a complex and daring
operation that set the stage for dozens of similar transplants
worldwide. She was 49.
Her life with a new face was a miracle to many, but was also marred by infections, kidney trouble and hypertension linked to her treatment. In announcing her death Tuesday, the Amiens University Hospital in northern France said Dinoire's experience "illustrates perfectly the high stakes of face transplants."