Brenda Charett Jensen - Modesto, CA
In one of the most complex transplant surgeries ever performed, an international team of surgeons at UC Davis Medical Center has restored the voice of a 52-year-old Modesto, Calif., woman who had been unable to speak for more than a decade.
Just 13 days after the operation to replace the larynx (voicebox), thyroid gland and trachea (windpipe), Brenda Charett Jensen voiced her first words in 11 years and is now able to speak easily and at length. The 18-hour operation, which took place over a two-day period in October 2010, is only the second documented case of its kind in the world.
“This operation has restored my life,” says Jensen, who was raised in the San Joaquin Valley town of Patterson, Calif. “I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity. It is a miracle. I’m talking, talking, talking, which just amazes my family and friends.”
Prior to the transplant, Jensen was unable to speak or breathe normally because of complications stemming from a previous surgery several years ago that closed off her airway and made her completely dependent on a tracheotomy tube. For more than a decade, she has been limited to vocalizing words using a handheld electronic device that produces an artificial, robot-like sound. In order to breathe, she has relied on the tracheotomy, which is still in place and visible at the base of her neck.
Jensen's 18-hour procedure was followed by two months of rehabilitation. Her newly restored voice, while sounding hoarse at times, has improved significantly since the transplant as her nerves regenerate and she learns again how to speak. While the donor organ came from an accident victim, Jensen's voice is her own and not that of the female donor. The transplant has allowed Jensen to smell and taste for the first time in years. She is in the process of relearning to swallow and hopes to soon be able to eat and drink normally again.
The only other documented larynx transplant took place at the Cleveland Clinic in 1998. For the physicians in this case, the novel procedure has advanced knowledge in the field of transplant medicine and otolaryngology.
“We are absolutely delighted with the results of this extraordinary case,” said Gregory Farwell, associate professor of otolaryngology at UC Davis and lead surgeon for the transplant.
Farwell led a surgical team that included Peter Belafsky, associate professor of otolaryngology at UC Davis Health System; Martin Birchall, professor of laryngology at the University College London Ear Institute in England; Paolo Macchiarini, professor of regenerative surgery at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet; and Quang Luu, assistant professor of otolaryngology at UC Davis Health System. The entire transplantation involved nearly two dozen physicians, nurses, technicians, transplant coordinators and other UC Davis medical personnel.
"This is the kind of surgical advance that only academic health centers can accomplish," said Belafsky, who brought Jensen's case to the attention of his colleagues and was the transplant project's principal investigator. "This operation required extensive planning and a range of specialties. We all benefitted from the university's highly collaborative environment, which fully supported and assembled the resources necessary for this type of procedure."
UC Davis helped fund much of Jensen's hospital-related costs, with most of the surgical team donating their time and efforts to the project.
Jensen was discharged from the hospital on Nov. 11, 2010. Despite some medical challenges that required short readmissions to the medical center, she has recovered extremely well.
"Every day is a new beginning for me," says Jensen. "I'm working so hard to use my vocal chords and train my muscles to swallow. I'll probably never sing in a choir or anything, but it's exciting to talk normally, and I can't wait to eat and drink and swim again!"
Find out more information about this story and procedure from UC Davis Health System.