Chimp victim hospitalized with face-transplant complications
(AP) — The Connecticut woman who underwent a face transplant five years ago after being attacked by a chimpanzee is back in a Boston hospital after doctors discovered her body is rejecting tissue from the transplant.
Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, director of plastic surgery transplantation at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said Wednesday that Charla Nash is experiencing a "moderate rejection episode" and the transplant is not in jeopardy.
Anti-rejection drugs can have serious side effects, and the military had funded the experiment in hopes of using the findings to help soldiers who had transplants after returning from war.
The immunosuppression drugs that transplant patients are typically given for the rest of their lives carry such risks as cancer, viral infections and kidney damage.
Because of those dangers, many transplants of non-vital body parts, such as thumbs, are not considered worth doing.