DAVIS, Calif., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- A California woman has spoken for the first time in 11 years after a voice-box transplant, the second ever performed in the world, British and U.S. doctors say.
A team of British and American surgeons carried out the delicate 18-hour surgery on Brenda Jensen, 52, to replace her damaged larynx, her thyroid gland, which controls the body's metabolism, and a 2.3-inch section of her windpipe, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.
Jensen's voice box had been damaged in a previous operation that left her communicating through a hand-held electronic device and breathing through a hole in her neck.
"This operation has restored my life," Jensen, who lives in California where the transplant took place, said.
Gregory Farwell, associate professor of otolaryngology at UC Davis and lead surgeon for the transplant, said, "We are absolutely delighted with the results of this extraordinary case.
"The larynx is an incredibly complex organ, with intricate nerves and muscles functioning to provide voice and allow breathing," he said.
Jensen had two months of rehabilitation to strengthen her vocal cords and is learning to swallow again, having been fed through a tube for the last decade.
Jensen's surgery was the second time a larynx transplant has been performed; the first was conducted at the Cleveland Clinic in 1998.
