VOA健康报道2024--Man Regains His Voice with the Help of a Rare Medical Operation

Man Regains¹ His Voice with the Help of a Rare Medical Operation

A man in the Northeastern state of Massachusetts has regained² his voice after a rare operation.

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

Transplants of the larynx are very unusual and normally are 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 one.

Surgeons at 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 operation to more patients, including some with cancer, the most common way to lose a larynx.

“People need to keep their voice,” 59-year-old Kedian told the Associated Press four months after the transplant operation. His voice sounded rough, but he was able to keep up a discussion for an hour. He added, “I want people to know this can be done.”

Kedian became emotional when describing the first time he phoned his 82-year-old mother after the surgery, “and she could hear me…That was important to me, to talk to my mother.”

The study is small — just nine more people will take part. But it permits scientists to learn more about these complex transplants. One day, doctors might offer these operations to more people who cannot breathe, swallow or speak on their own because of a damaged or surgically³ removed larynx.

Dr. David Lott is chair of Head and Neck Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He said he started the study because “my patients tell me, ‘Yeah, I may be alive but I’m not really living.’”

Lott’s team reported early results of the surgery recently in the publication Mayo Clinic Proceedings⁴.

The larynx might be best known as the voice box. But the larynx is also important for breathing and swallowing. Muscular tissue flaps called vocal⁵ cords open to let air into the lungs, close to prevent food or drink from going the wrong way and move when air pushes past them to produce speech.

The first two U.S. larynx transplants took place at the Cleveland Clinic in 1998 and the University of California, Davis, in 2010. The patients who received them had lost their voices to injuries.

But cancer is the biggest reason for voice loss. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 12,600 people will be found to have some form of laryngeal cancer this year.

While today many undergo voice-preserving treatment, thousands of people have had their larynx completely removed. These people often breathe through what is called a tracheostomy tube in their neck. They can struggle to communicate.

Although the earlier U.S. recipients⁶ were able to reach near normal speech, doctors have not fully⁷ accepted these transplants. That is partly because people can survive without a larynx. At the same time, special drugs that limit the immune system could create new or reappearing tumors.

“We want to be able to push those boundaries but do it as safely and ethically⁹ as we can,” Lott said.

Head-and-neck specialists say the Mayo trial is important to helping¹⁰ larynx transplants become a choice.

“It isn’t a ‘one-off,’” but an opportunity to finally learn from one patient before operating on the next, 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 being studied, noted¹¹ Dr. Peter Belafsky of UC Davis, who helped perform the 2010 transplant. His patients at high risk of larynx loss record their voice in hopes of using new speech devices that sound like them. Belafsky said larynx transplants might become more common. But he warned it likely will take years of additional research.

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

Kedian used to be known for long talks with strangers. He would not let doctors remove his entire larynx to cure the cancer. He wanted to read bedtime stories to his granddaughter, with his own voice rather than what he called robotic-sounding speech devices.

“Every day it’s getting better,” said Kedian, who is expected to move back to Massachusetts soon. His tracheostomy will remain in place for at least a few more months. But, he said, “I’m pushing myself to make it go faster because I want these tubes out of me, to go back to a normal life.”

Words in This Story

larynx – n. the upper part of the trachea of humans

transplant – n. the act of moving or transferring something from one individual to another

surgeon – n. to medical doctor who performs operations on patients

rough –adj. not exactly normal or clear

keep up –v. (phrasal) to continue to do something

flap –n. a structure that sticks out and can move up or down

immune system –n. the systems in the body that fight and prevent infection

tumor⁸ – n. a new growth of tissue that possesses no physiological¹² function

disability – n. a program providing financial support to a person affected by an impairment that prevents them from engaging in employment

1 regains   

复得( regain的第三人称单数 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• It will take a lot of repair work before the theatre regains its former splendour. 要想剧院重拾昔日的辉煌，必须进行大规模整修。
• He lays down the book and regains the consciousness. 他惊悸初定，掩卷细思。

2 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

3 surgically   

adv. 外科手术上, 外科手术一般地

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• To bypass this impediment an almost mature egg cell is removed surgically. 为了克服这一障碍，通过手术，取出一个差不多成熟的卵细胞。

4 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

5 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

6 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

9 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。