Social worker undergoes groundbreaking windpipe transplant after severe asthma attack
A social worker underwent a rare windpipe transplant procedure after hers was badly damaged by a severe asthma attack. Sonia Sein, 56, had the trachea replacement operation at a New York City hospital in January, and now appears to be on the mend from the grueling procedure.
Sonia’s original windpipe – the organ which takes air from the mouth to the lungs – was damaged in 2014, after doctors inserted a tube into her throat to help her breathe during a severe asthma attack.
The tube saved Sonia’s life, but left her trachea so damaged that she regularly struggled to get a breath over the ensuing six years. She underwent multiple surgeries to try and repair the damage, but grew increasingly depressed at feeling like she was on the verge of suffocating.
Surgeon Dr Eric Genden, from Mount Sinai Hospital led the 18 hour transplant surgery, which involved a team of 50 specialized medics. That saw a donor trachea gently inserted into Sonia’s neck, before a complex web of blood vessels were reconnected.
Dr Genden recalled: ‘When we saw the organ come to life, we knew we had jumped the first hurdle.’ He said Sonia is now back home and ‘breathing wonderfully.’
Explaining how the transplant has transformed her life, Sonia said: ‘Now I feel good.
‘I dance with my granddaughter we chase each other around the house. I jump on my grandson.
‘We play, we watch a movie together. I cook for them. We’re making the memories together.’
He now hopes the procedure may offer hope to Covid patients whose windpipes have been badly damaged after having a ventilator inserted.
Dr Genden said: ‘Right now, we don’t talk much about those patients because there is no option for them.
‘We’re hoping that this procedure will help not only the patients that are teetering on disaster, but also the patients that are currently kind of deemed hopeless.’
Surgeons have long wanted to attempt a windpipe transplant, but have been deterred by the complexity of the procedure.
Dr David Classen from the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the US’s organ transplant system said: ‘It is just technically extremely difficult. It’s been a very difficult thing to crack.’
Sonia is now on powerful drugs given to organ recipients to try and stop their bodies rejecting the new organ.
Doctors say it is too early to deem the procedure a total success – but are hopeful that it has gone well, and believe they may be able to wean Sonia off the anti-rejection drugs if all goes well.
Dr Alec Patterson, a transplant surgeon from St Louis who was not involved in the procedure said: ‘If it was going to be a failure, we would know by now. It’s quite promising. It’s a major step forward.’
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