Should face transplants be available?

US surgeons are preparing a shortlist of applicants hoping to be the first to receive a face transplant.

Doctors in the US have already carried out the procedure on bodies donated for medical research.

The Cleveland Clinic will now choose a live patient whose face is disfigured to receive a new face from a dead donor.

The chance of the operation being successful is around 50% and it is not know what the person will look like after the transplant, BBC News reported.