Burns victim saved with revolutionary treatment

[nursebedlam]

Burns victim saved with revolutionary treatment

Revolutionary technology has saved the life of a three-year-old girl injured last December when a car crashed into her Sydney child care centre.

Sophie Delezio suffered burns to 90 per cent of her body when a car drove into the child care centre and caught fire.

To save her life, doctors have used bio-engineered skin with layers of Sophie's own skin cells in a series of operations that have taken months.

It is one of the first times in the world the procedure has been successful.

Dr Peter Maitz from Concorde Hospital says that was partly because Sophie Delezio is so young.

"I think that her regenerative power is much larger than a normal person," he said.

The Concord Hospital's skin culture lab is the only one in Australia and staff are delighted with their success.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1124142.htm

[renerian, BSN, RN]

Thanks for posting it.

renerian

[Qwiigley, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, CRNA]

wow! Impressive. I have to give it to burn nurses... truely amazing people!

[nursebedlam]

Toddler's father speaks of miracle

08:16 AEST Fri Jun 4 2004

Ground-breaking medical technology saved tiny Sophie Delezio's life.

But the toddler's unbreakable spirit in the face of horrific burns was another miracle to emerge from Sydney's childcare centre tragedy.

Sophie and playmate Molly Wood, now both aged three, suffered massive burns last December when they were trapped under a car that ploughed into the Roundhouse Childcare Centre at Fairlight, on Sydney's northern beaches.

Molly spent almost two months in intensive care, enduring 18 rounds of surgery for burns to about 40 per cent of her body before she could be released from hospital in early March.

Sophie lost both feet, some fingers and suffered third degree burns to 85 per cent of her body.

She is expected to remain in The Children's Hospital at Westmead for some time yet.

On Thursday, Sophie's father Ron Delezio spoke of the miracle of his tiny daughter's survival and paid tribute to the medical team.

Surgeons from The Children's Hospital at Westmead and Concord Hospital's burns unit treated Sophie's terrible burns with a bio-engineered skin grafts.

Layers of skin grown from Sophie's own cells were then used to treat her burns.

Doctors said the success of the procedures undoubtedly saved Sophie's life - it was one of the first times anywhere that cultured skin had successfully been grafted onto a bio-engineered skin graft.

"It is a miracle what's happened with Sophie in her recovery," Mr Delezio told reporters.

"I think the miracle is that the surgeons, the scientists, the hospital, the staff ... have worked together in a very close knit team and I don't think you can get any better than what we've seen here in the last six months.

"We've been very thankful for what's happened here."

A visibly moved NSW Premier Bob Carr visited Sophie on Thursday.

"It says something about the spirit of little Sophie, an indomitable spirit, a wonderful little girl who I think will be contributing to the life of this country," Mr Carr said.

"She's got a very strong lively personality and she loves books and that's a great tribute to ... her parents who have got her to this point in her recovery."

Sophie's surgeon Peter Haywood spoke of tragedy converted into triumph.

"It's a triumph of the will of Sophie, it's a triumph of the commitment of her parents, it's a triumph of all the people behind this miracle," Dr Haywood said.

"This child would not have survived without this technology. This is cutting edge stuff."

She is expected to remain in The Children's Hospital at Westmead for some time yet.

On Thursday, Sophie's father Ron Delezio spoke of the miracle of his tiny daughter's survival and paid tribute to the medical team.

Surgeons from The Children's Hospital at Westmead and Concord Hospital's burns unit treated Sophie's terrible burns with a bio-engineered skin grafts.

Layers of skin grown from Sophie's own cells were then used to treat her burns.

Doctors said the success of the procedures undoubtedly saved Sophie's life - it was one of the first times anywhere that cultured skin had successfully been grafted onto a bio-engineered skin graft.

"It is a miracle what's happened with Sophie in her recovery," Mr Delezio told reporters.

"I think the miracle is that the surgeons, the scientists, the hospital, the staff ... have worked together in a very close knit team and I don't think you can get any better than what we've seen here in the last six months.

"We've been very thankful for what's happened here."

A visibly moved NSW Premier Bob Carr visited Sophie on Thursday.

"It says something about the spirit of little Sophie, an indomitable spirit, a wonderful little girl who I think will be contributing to the life of this country," Mr Carr said.

"She's got a very strong lively personality and she loves books and that's a great tribute to ... her parents who have got her to this point in her recovery."

Sophie's surgeon Peter Haywood spoke of tragedy converted into triumph.

"It's a triumph of the will of Sophie, it's a triumph of the commitment of her parents, it's a triumph of all the people behind this miracle," Dr Haywood said.

"This child would not have survived without this technology. This is cutting edge stuff."

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=3980

[clgmezzo]

The burn center i work at was the first to have cultured skin, but we have stopped using it entirely because of its poor endurance and easy breakdown later in life, I wonder if the same problems are found in this technique