For the first time in the world, a team from Strasbourg University Hospitals implanted an artificial larynx in a 65-year-old man suffering from cancer.
Pr Debry and his team from the ENT department of Strasbourg university hospitals achieved this technical feat in June 2012, and it is only today that the details of this unprecedented intervention are revealed. A 65-year-old French patient with laryngeal cancer was the first man in the world to have an artificial larynx implanted. However, it is a press release from the company Pro Tip (manufacturer of medical devices for larynx dysfunctions) which reveals the information and specifies that the patient can now breathe normally, that is to say without a tracheotomy, this permanent orifice. at the base of the neck often necessary in this type of patient.
A two-step intervention
The first part of the operation consisted in removing the patient’s larynx, in order to then proceed with the implantation of the first element of the artificial larynx, namely a titanium tracheal ring. “The main purpose of the tracheal ring that we have installed is to reestablish the connection normally provided by the larynx between the base of the tongue and the remaining trachea, acting as a funnel between the two,” explains Professor Debry. “Because of the type of material it is made of, the ring is able to integrate with the surrounding tissue and therefore become an integral part of the throat. “
Secondly, a few weeks after the first operation, in November 2012, the doctors inserted, under general anesthesia but through the patient’s mouth, a removable device made up of valves in the tracheal ring. Thus assembled, the artificial larynx has since been able to partially reproduce the usual functions of a healthy larynx. As a result, the patient is now able to breathe normally.
More than 1,500 laryngeal ablations per year in France
For Professor Debry, this intervention is the culmination of more than 20 years of research. The main difficulty for the research teams was to find the most suitable biomaterials to replace the larynx. It was ultimately a combination of solid and porous titanium that won the challenge. “This 1time This surgical intervention opens the way to a procedure that represents a new source of hope for patients with laryngeal cancer. Eventually they will be able to regain their ability to breathe, but also to speak and eat normally, ”explains Maurice Bérenger, CEO of Pro Tip. The Strasbourg team adds that a European study is underway to confirm their first encouraging results. Other tests will also take place in order to be able to offer this surgical intervention to more routine patients. It is estimated that more than 1,500 total laryngeal ablations are performed in France each year, in the majority of cases in the context of laryngeal cancer. These patients then lose their ability to breathe and speak normally. Definitive tracheostomy and in some non-cancerous cases, laryngeal transplantation, are currently the only alternatives offered to these patients.
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