World's First Tongue Transplant Reported in Austria

Surgeons in Austria report they have successfully performed what is believed to be the world's first tongue transplant on a 42-year-old man .

Doctors from Vienna's General Hospital told a news conference that patient is awake, blood appears to be circulating normally in his new tongue and there have thus far been no signs of rejection.

The unidentified man, who was said to be a heavy smoker, had been suffering from a malignant tumour in his mouth.

Dr. Rolf Ewers, who led the transplant team, said surgeons spent 14 hours removing the diseased tongue and reconnecting a donor tongue's muscle tissue, nerve endings, arteries and veins.

Ewers said that while the unidentified patient presently cannot move the tongue and is unlikely ever to regain his sense of taste, doctors hope the patient ultimately will be able to speak and eat.

Tongue transplant surgery has been carried out previously in animals, but surgeons until now have generally used muscle tissue taken from a patient's small bowel to rebuild a tongue that has been amputated because of cancer or other disease.

Ewers said he hoped tongue transplants would become a normal undertaking over the next few years.

"This is the next step for better treatment for patients. The liver and kidneys are complicated organs, but the tongue is just muscle, so it should work out," Ewers said.

Other Sources: General Hospital