PHOENIX, Ariz. — On Feb. 29, Mayo Clinic marked a milestone: its first larynx transplant.
It is only the third transplant of its kind in the United States and the first done on a patient with cancer. A team of six surgeons performed the 21-hour surgery in Phoenix. After removing the patient's larynx — also known as the voice box — and the remaining cancer, the team transplanted a donor larynx, pharynx, the upper parts of the trachea and esophagus, thyroid, parathyroid glands, blood vessels and nerves into his throat.
"This is an exciting time because it helps us to bridge that gap between dysfunction of that larynx and restoring its ability to work once again," said Dr. David Lott, a member of the Mayo Clinic Larynx and Trachea Transplant Program team. The patient, Marty Kedian, had been diagnosed with a rare type of laryngeal cancer in 2013.
Over a decade, Kedian underwent several surgeries to treat his cancer and eventually had a tracheostomy tube placed in his neck so that he could breathe. Ultimately, Kedian could not swallow normally or talk. Faced with laryngectomy, the removal of the larynx, as the next course of action, Kedian said he wanted an alternative.
The Massachusetts man and his wife, Gina Kedian, found Lott, who is also the chair of Mayo Clinic Arizona's Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery/Audiology. "The larynx is responsible for our ability to breathe, to let air get into our lungs," Lott said. "It's also responsible for our ability to .