Larynx Transplanted 19 Years After Loss
From Times Wire Reports
A man who lost his voice in a motorcycle accident 19 years ago rasped “Hello” and “Hi, Mom” just a few days after what is believed to be the first larynx transplant since 1969. Timothy Heidler, 40, could be speaking in a normal voice in five months or less, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic said. In a 12-hour surgery on Sunday, Heidler received the larynx, part of the trachea and 70% of the throat of an unidentified donor. The surgery, last performed in 1969 in Belgium, is causing some controversy in the medical community over the risks vs. the benefits of transplanting a non-vital organ.
