The Cleveland Clinic did the very first face transplant procedure in the United States in December 2008. Now, the Clinic has announced that it performed its second face transplant in an operation in late September, when surgeons replaced almost the entire face of a middle-aged man who was severely disfigured in a car accident.
The Cleveland Clinic says that the man wishes to remain anonymous, but released a statement via the hospital on Tuesday in which he stated that he is "grateful beyond words to the donor and his family for this amazing gift."
During the procedure, surgeons transplanted two-thirds of the scalp, the forehead, upper and lower eyelids, eye sockets, nose, upper cheeks, upper jaw, upper teeth, salivary glands and nerves, muscles and skin.