Man Gets His Voice Back Thanks to Rare Medical Operation

Man Gets His Voice Back Thanks to Rare Medical Operation

A man from the northeastern state of Massachusetts has regained his voice after a rare operation.

Marty Kedian received a total transplantation of his larynxthe organ responsible for speech, commonly called the “voice box.”

Laryngeal transplants are very rare and are generally not available to people with active cancer. Kedian is only the third person in the United States to receive a total larynx transplant. Doctors removed Kedian’s cancerous larynx and replaced it with a donated larynx.

Surgeons The Mayo Clinic in Arizona offered Kedian the transplant as part of a new study. The study, known as a clinical trial, aims to open the surgery to more patients, including some with cancer, the most common form of laryngeal loss.

In this photo provided by the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Girish Mour, left, and Dr. David Lott, right, stand on either side of Marty Kedian a week after his transplant surgery in Phoenix, March 8, 2024. (Mayo Clinic via AP)

“People have to keep their voices,” Kedian, 59, told The Associated Press four months after the transplant operation. His voice resonated roughbut he was able continue an hour-long discussion. He added: “I want people to know that it is possible.”

Kedian became emotional as he described the first time he called his 82-year-old mother after the operation: “And she could hear me… It was important to me, to talk to my mother.”

The study is small — only nine additional people will participate. But it is helping scientists learn more about these complex transplants. One day, doctors could offer these operations to more people who can’t breathe, swallow or speak on their own because of a damaged or surgically removed voice box.

Dr. David Lott, chief of head and neck surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, said he started the study because “my patients tell me, ‘Yeah, I may be alive, but I’m not really living.'”

Lott’s team recently reported the initial results of the operation in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings publication.

The larynx is perhaps best known as the voice box. But the larynx is also important for breathing and swallowing. Muscle tissue shutters The vocal cords open to let air into the lungs, close to prevent food or drink from going the wrong way, and move when air pushes against them to produce speech.

The first two larynx transplants in the United States took place at the Cleveland Clinic in 1998 and at the University of California, Davis in 2010. The patients who received them had lost their voices as a result of injuries.

But cancer is the leading cause of voice loss. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 12,600 people will be diagnosed with some form of laryngeal cancer this year.

Although many people today undergo voice preservation treatments, thousands of people have had their larynx completely removed. These people often breathe through what is called a tracheostomy tube in the neck. They may have difficulty communicating.

Although the first American recipients were able to regain near-normal speech, doctors have not fully accepted these transplants. This is partly because people can survive without a larynx. At the same time, special drugs that limit the immune system could create new ones or reappear tumors.

“We want to be able to push those boundaries, but do it in the safest and most ethical way possible,” Lott said.

Head and neck specialists say the Mayo trial is important in helping laryngeal transplants become a choice.

“This is not a one-off, but an opportunity to finally learn from one patient before we operate on the next one,” said Dr. Marshall Strome, who led the 1998 transplant in Cleveland.

This first attempt in a cancer patient “is the next important step,” he said.

Other possibilities are under study, noted Dr. Peter Belafsky of UC Davis, who participated in the 2010 transplant. His patients at high risk of laryngeal loss record their voices in hopes of using new voice devices that sound like them. Belafsky said laryngeal transplants could become more common. But he cautioned that it would likely take years of additional research.

In this photo provided by family, Marty Kedian holds his granddaughter in Pelham, New Hampshire, on Feb. 26, 2023, before her larynx transplant. (Family photo via AP)

Doctors told Kedian he had a rare cancer of the laryngeal cartilage about 10 years ago. He had to retire with disability assistance.

Kedian was known for his long conversations with strangers. He refused to let doctors remove his larynx to treat his cancer. He wanted to read bedtime stories to his granddaughter, in his own voice rather than what he called robotic-sounding speaking devices.

“Every day it’s getting better,” said Kedian, who is expected to return to Massachusetts soon. His tracheostomy will remain in place for at least a few more months. But, he said, “I’m trying to speed things up because I want to get these tubes out of me and get back to my normal life.”

I am John Russell.

Lauran Neergaard wrote this report for The Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in this story

larynx – not. the upper part of the human trachea

transplantation – not. the act of moving or transferring something from one individual to another

surgeon – not. to the doctor who performs operations on patients

rough –adj. not quite normal or clear

continue –v. (phrasing) keep doing something

Rabat -not. a structure that protrudes and can move up or down

immune system -not. the body’s systems that fight and prevent infections

tumor – not. a new tissue growth that has no physiological function

disability – not. a program providing financial support to a person affected by a disability that prevents them from being employed