Professor Nicolas Taptas (1871–1955): A Pioneer of Post-Laryngectomy Voice Rehabilitation

Objective To report on the career of Professor Nicolas Taptas of Constantinople (1871–1955) and his contribution to the development of an artificial larynx. Study Design Historical review. Methods The unpublished documents of Taptas's family archives and one of his papers, describing his own original technique for voice rehabilitation after total laryngectomies, were studied. Results In his texts, Taptas described the application of external laryngeal prostheses in one of his patients who underwent total laryngectomy. Taptas meticulously recorded his own first successful attempt in a woman with cancer of the larynx. He was one of the first scientists who, at the end of the 19th century, devised an external laryngeal prosthesis, which had the advantage of rehabilitating a sufficiently strong whispering voice; by using a prototype valve, he avoided problems of aspiration of liquids and food to the bronchi. Conclusion Nicolas Taptas's contribution to the development of the artificial larynx was vital because he devised and applied one of the first external laryngeal artificial prostheses with satisfactory functional results.