Artificial airway for cancer patient

A LUNG cancer patient has received the world’s first graft of an artificial airway after surgeons at a Paris hospital inserted a replacement bronchial tube.

The operation, at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny, meant they did not have to remove the 78-year-old patient’s lung, a procedure that has a very high mortality rate.

Thoracic surgeon Emmanuel Martinod, who carried out the surgery in October 2009, said that the artificial bronchus gave the surgical team better safety margins as they removed the cancer which had invaded the man’s airway and lung.

Professor Martinod said that the patient had recovered very well from the operation. He was back at his home and could walk about freely; however, he was still getting regular check-ups.

The artificial airway was developed following 10 years of research. It is made from a reconstituted aorta heart artery and a metallic stent support. As the original cell material has been reconstituted, there is no need for anti-rejection treatments, which react against the cancer treatment.

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