Who is Nicolò? Nicolò is a 4 year old child affected by trisomy 18 in mosaicism – the only officially documented case in Italy – who, thanks to heart surgery and ongoing stimuli and therapies since his birth, keeps making incredible progresses to the surprise of doctors themselves.

The application of hypebaric oxygen therapy at this phase of his life, when his brain is still like a sponge and capable of regeneration, could have a strong impact on his cognitive development.

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What is Trisomy 18 or Edward’s Syndrome?

Trisomy 18 is a rare genetic disorder in which a person has a third copy of genetic material from chromosome 18, instead of the usual two copies. The extra genetic material from the additional eighteenth chromosome can cause a variety of problems with varying severity. The degree of severity can range from mildly to severely affected. Although less than 10 percent of babies affected by this disease survive to their first birthdays, some children with Trisomy 18 can enjoy many years of life with their families, reaching milestones and being involved with their community although with significant developmental delays that do not allow them to live independently without assisted caregiving. Mosaic trisomy is a less severe form of Edwards syndrome The severity of the condition is highly variable depending on how many of the body's cells are involved and where they are distributed.

How can this disease be cured and what are the most recent medical discoveries?

 This disease cannot be cured, but it is however possible to improve the quality of life of affected children by intervening with surgery and appropriate rehab therapies. Heart surgery can often save their life. Some rehabilitation therapies which have proven helpful are physical rehab, speech therapy, cranio-sacral therapy, etc. Growth hormone therapy, most importantly, has proven to stimulate cognitive development. According to some very recent clinical studies in the USA and inFlorence, Italy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy as well helps improving the cognitive status of children affected by developmental delays by improving the energetic metabolism and the blood flow in specific areas of the brain that cause different behavioral and physical problems throughout a person's body.