Face transplant 'successful'

London - French surgeons consider the world's first partial face transplant a success, and plan another transplant this year or next.

But such surgeries likely will never become commonplace, Bernard Devauchelle, M.D., Ph.D., said in news reports, because they are very complicated and patients must be selected with great care.

Isabelle Dinoire, 38, of France, received a new nose, lips and chin last November after she was severely mauled by a pet dog.

The French surgical team has two candidates, a young boy and a 45-year-old man, for its next transplant, the New Zealand Herald reports.