Zion’s hands and feet were amputated when he was 3 years old, following a severe infection that caused his kidneys to fail, said his mother. The kidney failure interrupted blood flow to his hands and feet, prompting the amputation.
The boy received a kidney transplant following his illness, and his body’s successful response to anti-rejection drugs in the years following that surgery paved the way for him to receive his new hands, doctors said.
Ray said she had a hard time believing doctors when they floated the idea of a double hand transplant for her son.
“I had a lot of questions. I was excited, but I was skeptical because I am a mother,” she said. “I would never have thought in a million years when he got the amputation that there would be a chance for him to have his limbs back.”
Donor confidentiality forbids hospital officials from discussing the source of Zion’s new hands, but Ray said the hands were donated by a boy around her son’s age. The Philadelphia-based Gift of Life Donor Program coordinated the donation.
During the surgery, the hands and forearms from the donor were attached by connecting bone, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, tendons and skin, hospital officials said. The surgical team was divided into four groups operating simultaneously, two focused on the donor limbs and two focused on the recipient.
First, doctors connected the forearm bones using steel plates and screws. Next, they used microsurgery to connect the arteries and veins. Once blood flow was established through the reconnected vessels, surgeons sutured together each muscle and tendon, and reattached nerves.
“In this case, because this is an amputation more toward the wrist than the elbow, Zion’s muscles to create grasp and finger extension were there. They just weren’t hooked up to anything for a while,” Levin said. “His muscles have already started to power his fingers, making them flex.”
Hand transplants are much more difficult and the prognosis always worse with an amputation closer to the wrist, Levin added.
8-Year-Old After World’s First Double Hand Transplant: “Never Give Up On Your Dreams” was originally published on blackdoctor.org
