A 23-year-old man, treated for fulminant haemorrhage in Macerata by Alborino and then in Ancona by Candelari and Donati, was stabilised and then urgently transferred to Sant'Andrea University Hospital in Rome. He was immediately operated on by the thoracic surgery team led by Erino Angelo Rendina, in collaboration with anaesthetists, cardiac surgeons, cardiologists and general surgeons.

The world-first reconstruction of the trachea and brachiocephalic artery (or innominate artery, the largest arterial branch of the aorta) took 5.30 hours and involved 25 specialists. The patient was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit in a stable condition and two days later to the Thoracic Surgery Unit. Here, thanks to the efforts of the nurses and physiotherapists, the young man made a rapid and complete recovery and was discharged after 13 days.

The innovative surgery, which had never been performed before, started with the removal of part of the trachea and the entire innominate artery and ended with the reconstruction of the trachea and the replacement of the innominate artery with a biological conduit. All post-operative examinations confirmed the success of the reconstructions.

Further information on the Italian version of this page