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**earasryhqaey** · Appassionato Iscritti Registrato: 26/06/19 11:08 Messaggi: 265

An 8-year-old boy who lost his hands and feet to a serious infection has become the youngest patient to receive a double-hand transplant , surgeons said Tuesday.

Zion Harvey's forearms were heavily bandaged but his hands were visible as he flashed some big smiles Tuesday at a hospital news conference. He demonstrated his still-delicate grip and described waking up with new hands as "weird at first, but then good."

The boy, from the Baltimore suburb of Owings Mills, Maryland, received the transplant earlier this month at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, though doctors did not publicly disclose the nearly 11-hour operation until this week.

A 40-person medical team used steel plates and screws to attach the old and new bones. Surgeons then painstakingly reconnected Zion's arteries, veins, muscles, tendons and nerves.

"He woke up smiling," said Dr. L. Scott Levin, who heads the hand transplant program. "There hasn't been one whimper, one tear, one complaint."

Zion, a bright and precocious child Levin described as having "a maturity that is way beyond his 8 years," contracted sepsis as a toddler. The resulting multiple organ failure forced the amputation of his hands and feet; by age 4, he needed a kidney transplant, receiving the organ from his mother.

Leg prosthetics have allowed Zion to be very active, including walking, running and jumping. He learned to use his forearms to write, eat and play video games and has been attending school. Physicians hope he'll now be able to achieve more milestones, including his goals of throwing a football and playing on the monkey bars.

"It was no more of a risk than a kidney transplant," his mother, Pattie Ray, said. "So I felt like I was willing to take that risk for him, if he wanted it — to be able to play monkey bars and football."

Several adults in the U.S. have received double-hand or double-arm transplants in the past few years. Hospital officials in Philadelphia believe Zion is the youngest person to have the surgery, which requires a lifetime of immune-suppressing ***** to ensure the body doesn't reject the new hands.

Zion already had been taking anti-rejection ***** because of his donated kidney, which made him a good candidate for the hand transplant, doctors said.

Doctors say Zion will spend several weeks in physical rehab at the hospital before returning home. Two rows of relatives attended the news conference, and they stood to be recognized at Zion's request.

"I want to say to you guys, thank you for helping me through this bumpy road," he said.

The donor's family chose to remain anonymous.

Children's Hospital said it would not hold Zion's family liable for any costs beyond that which may be covered by medical insurance.

GENEVA, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Earth's protective ozone layer is well on track to recovery in the next few decades thanks to concerted international action against ozone depleting substances, said a UN report on Wednesday.

The conclusion was made in the assessment published on Wednesday by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The Assessment for Decision-Makers, a summary document of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014, said actions taken under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, signed on Sept. 16, 1987, to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion, are enabling the return of the ozone layer to benchmark 1980 levels.

It said the Montreal Protocol and associated agreements have led to decreases in the atmospheric abundance of gases, such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and halons, once used in products such as refrigerators, spray cans, insulation foam and fire suppression.

In 1987, ozone-depleting substances contributed about 10 gigatonnes CO2-equivalent emissions per year. The Montreal Protocol has now reduced these emissions by more than 90 percent.

Under full compliance with the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980 benchmark levels, the time before significant ozone layer depletion, before the middle of the century in mid-latitudes and the Arctic, and somewhat later in the Antarctic.

However, the assessment warned the climate benefits of the Montreal Protocol could be significantly offset by projected emissions of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) used to replace ozone depleting substances.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) do not harm the ozone layer but many of them are potent greenhouse gases. They currently contribute about 0.5 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions per year.

These emissions are growing at a rate of about 7 percent per year. Left unabated, they can be expected to contribute significantly to climate change in the next decades.

Meanwhile, the assessment said the ozone layer in the second half of the 21st century will largely depend on concentrations of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, the three main long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Overall, CO2 and methane tend to increase global ozone levels. By contrast, nitrous oxide, a by-product of food production, is both a powerful greenhouse gas and an ozone depleting gas, and is likely to become more important in future ozone depletion.

"This latest assessment provides solid science to policy-makers about the intricate relationship between ozone and climate and the need for mutually-supportive measures to protect life on earth for future generations," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in a statement.

"International action on the ozone layer is a major environmental success story, this should encourage us to display the same level of urgency and unity to tackle the even greater challenge of climate change," he added.

The Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014, which is the first comprehensive .

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