French doctors perform first partial face transplant

French doctors performed the world's first facial transplant Tuesday, on a woman who was disfigured by a dog attack. The high-risk operation has raised a storm of ethical questions and garnered guarded praise. Doctors have performed the world's first partial face transplant, grafting a nose, lips and chin onto a 38-year-old woman disfigured by a dog attack, French hospitals said Wednesday.

The surgery was performed Sunday in Amiens, northern France, according to a joint statement from the Amiens hospital and another in the southern city of Lyon, whose doctors worked together.

"The patient's general condition is excellent and the transplant looks normal," the statement said. It said the woman wants to remain anonymous. The donor, a woman, was brain dead, and her family consented to the surgery, the statement said.

Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard, one of the surgeons, said the operation was the world's first of its kind and he confirmed that it included the nose, lips and chin.

But "we still don't know when the patient will get out," he said. He refused to give other details before a news conference planned for Friday.