One of the most attractive concepts in the field of modern medicine is that of replacing diseased tissues with healthy ones or substitutes that will restore the function of the afflicted organ to normalcy. Such examples as skin grafting, vascular homografts and autografts, and bone grafts are cases in point. In addition to using organic tissues, inorganic materials consisting of plastic "heart valves," tantalum, or stainless steel in the form of wires, struts, nails, plates, screws, and meshes have all been used with varying degrees of success. However, one of the most persistently unsatisfactory organs to which this principle has been applied is the trachea, and this is so despite the fact that many ingenious schemes have been employed. Invasion of the trachea or bronchi with tumor, either intrinsic or extrinsic in origin, has sometimes been the factor determining operability. On a few occasions, the cervical trachea has been damaged