World's First Double Hand Transplant Involving a Child Declared a Success (ctvnews.ca) 52
randomErr shares a report from CTV News: The first child in the world to undergo a double hand transplant is now able to write, feed and dress himself, doctors said Tuesday, declaring the ground-breaking operation a success after 18 months. The report in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health provides the first official medical update on 10-year old Zion Harvey, who underwent surgery to replace both hands in July 2015. Harvey had his hands and feet amputated at the age of two, following a sepsis infection. He also had a kidney transplant. Harvey was already receiving drugs to suppress any immune reaction to his kidney, which was a key factor in his selection for the 10-plus hour hand transplant surgery.
Fucking awesome (Score:4, Insightful)
's all I can say.
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They said right in the summary - he was ALREADY on the drugs due to the kidney transplant he received earlier. If he has to take them anyways he might as well have the hand transplant surgery as well.
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Maybe read the whole post before posting yourself :) (from the above post)
"This is a special case since the kid needs the drugs already of course."
The above poster ALREADY acknowledged that.
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The BBC did a story on this. Many in the field (and probably this little feller's doctors) think that with advances in technology and the immunosupporessants problem, in the future artificial limbs will be the way to go. I'm not sure how far into the future they were projecting.
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I've heard about this happening; someone's immune system was destroyed for something unrelated. When it was restored, a transplant patients no longer needed immunosupressants. There is some research into doing this specifically to deal with transplants.
A good thing. Great though these drugs are, they cause all sorts of problems, making people more susceptible to sickness (minor ailments can be fatal), and th
Re:Fucking awesome (Score:4, Funny)
's all I can say.
You have to hand it to the doctors. I can't place my finger on the right words to say but it sounds like they've got their thumb down on this procedure.
's (Score:2)
Are you missing somethig? ;)
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Would have been tough to jerk off with no hands
They either had to give him two new hands, or remove two ribs from his rib cage. I think they made the right choice.
Unfortunately... (Score:3)
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Then we might have a chance to finally see the two parties cooperate when they notice that they'll starve if they don't.
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Nah, realist. As soon as it touches their own well being, you'll immediately see some bi-partisan ideas get pushed forwards quickly.
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Yes, it is common practice to give one left and one right hand.
Bad Joke (Score:4, Funny)
I hope this kid recovers and gives the operation two thumbs up!
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I hope this kid recovers and gives the operation two thumbs up!
Well looking at the video... I doubt he can despite it being a "success". He seems to have a slight squeeze/release control which is of course infinitely more useful to grab things than a stub, but he doesn't seem to have any motor control over individual fingers and certainly couldn't do a shirt button or tie a shoe lace. I've seen people with a simple claw prosthetic do more, of course the upside is that these hands look human but as long as he can't hold them naturally it's only half way there in that de
I think Dr. Klahn... (Score:2)
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Yours is a post of extraordinary magnitude. You have our gratitude!
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how weird would it be to have two stumps that can't do anything
I don't know, ask the English cricket team.
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That's incredible. It's also nasty AF. How weird would it be to have someone else's paws? Hey, what if they were black, or brown, or yellow?
There's a part of your brain that makes your body feel as if you own it, and even as if you are in it. As long as that works, they'll feel like his hands irrespective of what he's aware of intellectually.
As for the race thing, I'll just roll my eyes. I bet you'd turn down donated hands if they were the wrong colour. Anyone with an impoverished mind would.
Sepsis not managed in first place (Score:4, Interesting)
The unasked question here is why was the Sepsis not managed in first place. It is well understood condition and early intervention is the key to successful outcomes, was he denied early healthcare cover, people should be told.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidan... [nice.org.uk]
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I don't tre
Slashdot Editors... (Score:4, Funny)
Now, I'm not normally one to bitch and moan about the editorial staff, but how the heck is this article not from the "give-em-a-hand dept."?!?
Rad(ical)! (Score:3)
I was born without a thumb and with a tiny annoying useless thumb (couldn't move it due to lack of bones and muscles -- it was removed in 1984) as parts of my disabilities. Almost a decade later, I got a surgery to rotate my right hand's left non-thumb finger 90 degrees into a thumb. It was a success. I can use it for writing better, holding light cups, etc. However, it is not very strong. I still use my left untouched hand for heavier and stronger stuff. I didn't want to make a thumb for that hand for that reason. :)
Website (Score:2)
Your logo is pretty illegible. The overall look is not great, but it kinda has a hacker lack-of-aesthetic. How do you feel about something a little more graphic?
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Yeah, it's very old from 2004. Also, it's broken so...