Doctors in Colombia Report Successful Trachea Transplant

Doctors in Colombia said they had carried out the world's first successful trachea transplant on a 21-year-old patient at San Vicente de Paul University Hospital in Medellin.

Dr. Luis Fernando Tintinago, the lead surgeon, said the 23-hour long surgery worked because doctors were able to transplant the trachea complete with veins and nerves to a petient identified only as Adrian.

He said a trachea transplant had previously been attempted by British surgeons but it failed because they the veins and nerves and nerves were not included.

"We can consider the operation has been successful in the first stage, because the organ wasn't rejected in the first week, which is the riskiest time," Tintinago said.

Other sources: Colombia Media