A 48-year-old woman farmer has fully recovered after receiving the world's first transplant of an artificial memory alloy trachea in China nearly three and a half months ago.
Mi Aiyun, from central China's Henan Province, has attended a press conference in Beijing where she talked freely and laughed heartily, thanks to the restoration of her breathing and speaking abilities.
Moreover, she said she even can do farm work as before.
Mrs. Mi, who suffered trachea cancer for eight straight years, received the transplant at the Beijing Jiangong Hospital on April 19 this year.
Prestigious Chinese chest surgeon Prof. Xin Yuling cited the successful operation a major historic breakthrough in the development of artificial trachea technology.
Artificial trachea technology has bewildered international medical circles for over half a century, noted experts.
In the past, trachea cancer patients had to endure life-long pains resultant from the removal of a trachea after operation, which severely impaired their speaking and breathing abilities.
Medical experts all over the world have tried various transplants of trachea, including silica gel trachea, but all ended in failure because of technical reasons.
In performing the operation on Mrs. Mi, doctors first embedded a memory alloy net under the skin of her neck, and then removed the tumor and made the memory alloy net into an artificial trachea to replace her original trachea.
According to standard medical practice, a three-month period is required to determine whether an operation succeeds or not. And Mrs. Mi's presence at last Friday's press conference adequately proved her operation was crowned with success.
Noted Prof. Zhao Fengrui, who carried out the operation, has spent more than 30 years of painstaking efforts to study the technology and perform numerous related experiments on animals.
Experts have suggested that an artificial trachea technology center be set up as soon as possible to promote and carry forward Prof. Zhao's medical achievements.
(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2002)
