This week's artwork was donated by Dathan, a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia . The procedure was designed to preserve the recurrent laryngeal nerve in the side of the shunt creation, the arytenoid and a portion of the vocal cord, Dr. Del Palacio explained.
Some patients have a frequency range.
Thirteen of the patients spoke without effort or fatigue, four patients showed effort and fatigue, and two patients made no effort to speak due to fatigue. Five of the patients who had the surgery either did not speak at all or used other devices to communicate. None of the 24 patients aspirated significantly. Dr. Del Palacio noted that near-total laryngectomy is associated with the same morbidity as total laryngectomy. Previous radiation therapy is a contraindication for near-total laryngectomy, and tumor extent can also rule out that approach, he said.