The synthetic trachea was created by growing the patient’s own stem cells on an artificial “scaffold”, which British scientists helped design.

Windpipes have been grown from stem cells before, but only using the collagen “skeletons” of donated tracheas.

The landmark operation at Karolinska University hospital in Sweden could mean patients may not have to wait for a suitable donor organ. This could be particularly significant for children, for whom donor tracheas are much more difficult to find.