New published article: Debry et al., 2024

Congratulations to Professor Debry and colleagues on the publication of their case report on a patient who benefited from the first airway restoration using a cryopreserved aortic graft after complete laryngectomy in the European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head, and Neck Diseases. We are delighted to have contributed to the success of this article!

𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 has an incidence of around 185,000 cases worldwide. 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐲 (TL) is an operation performed on patients with 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫. Several attempts to transplant the larynx after TL have been made in recent decades. Professor Debry's team has been working on a 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐱 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 since the 2000s, and they then turned their attention to the possibility of using a 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 to restore the airway after LT.

This article presents the case of a 𝟕𝟎-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 who underwent LT after a diagnosis of 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐱 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐚. The patient's airway was reconstructed using a cryopreserved aortic graft. After 6 months of radio-chemotherapy, a second endoscopic surgery was performed to 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐨-𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐱. Thirteen months after the first operation, respiratory function was 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 and the patient could 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫, but understandably. The patient was in good health and had no relapses. However, the patient did 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠, which led her to decide to have the graft removed.

This transplant is 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝, and underlines the progress made over the last few decades in improving the quality of life of patients with laryngeal cancer who have undergone LT. The next major objective is to 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 by improving the surgical technique.