“A rejection in the eye could set off a severe acute rejection in the face. This was basically unknown ... I don't even know if we could do it. The transplant of the eye could complicate things.

or the patient's body could reject the transplant after the surgery. "When we talked about the possibility of doing both the hands and the face, I had to let him know that this has been attempted ...

2023 11:27 a.m. NEW YORK — Surgeons have performed the world’s first transplant of an entire human eye, an extraordinary addition to a face transplant — although it’s far too soon to know ...

Derek’s face transplant was the second at Mayo ... He will stay on anti-rejection medications for life to make sure his body’s immune system accepts the donor facial tissue.

He has so far not experienced any rejection to the transplant ... He said he thinks the full impact of his face transplant will hit him when he fulfils another goal, driving on his own again.