Brigham and Women's performs face transplant on woman mauled by chimp

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Jonathan Wiggs / Globe Staff Photo

Steve Nash, brother of Charla Nash, who received a full face transplant at Brigham and Women's Hospital late last month, appeared at a press conference today with his wife, Kate. Charla Nash did not appear at the press conference.

By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

Charla Nash, a Connecticut woman who was terribly mauled by a chimpanzee, is the third American to receive an entirely new face at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

The hospital planned to announce today that a team of 30 doctors and nurses performed a full face transplant on Nash late last month. The Brigham did not reveal the exact date to protect the privacy of the donor.

During the surgery, Nash also received transplants of both of her hands, which the chimp destroyed when it attacked her in February, 2009 at her friend's home in Stamford. Nash, however, suffered complications and the hands ''failed to thrive,'' forcing surgeons to remove them, the hospital said in a statement.

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The team worked for more than 20 hours to replace Nash's face, ''including the nose, lips, facial skin, muscles of facial animation and the nerves that power them and provide sensation,'' the hospital said.

Nash's injuries are so severe that she has not been able to eat or breathe normally, relying instead on feeding and breathing tubes. The face transplant is intended to help address these problems.

But Nash also was blinded in the attack, and it is very difficult for a blind person to live independently without hands, her doctors at the Brigham have said. It's unclear whether another hand transplant would be possible in the future.

The Cleveland Clinic previously turned down Nash for a face and hand transplant, because doctors did not believe they had the capacity to transplant the hands. This was the Brigham's first hand transplant.

The Brigham is now the leading US hospital for face transplantation.

The hospital performed a partial face transplant on James Maki, who lives in Fitchburg, in April 2009, and full face transplants on Dallas Wiens of Texas and Mitch Hunter of Indiana, earlier this year.

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