Surgery straightens boy's severely curved spine
A 17-year-old boy with a severely curved spine due to a rare genetic abnormality underwent successful surgery to treat his condition at a local hospital, experts said on Thursday.
The boy surnamed Xu has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), an inherited condition that causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. People with the condition face severe mobility restrictions as well as increased risk of heart and lung failure.
Xu was diagnosed with the disease before he was 1 year old. His spine became increasingly curved and his heart and respiratory function also suffered, keeping him in bed to avoid the risk of lung infection.
According to Dr Yang Junlin, director of Shanghai’s Xinhua Hospital’s spine center, SMA can be divided into four types and people with the most serious type usually don't survive more than two years after birth. Xu has the second most serious type, and patients like him usually don't survive longer than 25 years.
Doctors from Xinhua Hospital decided to conduct a risky surgery using screws and medical implants to straighten Xu’s body.
The surgery on July 8 went smoothly and doctors expect Xu's body and life quality to improve significantly.
It's estimated that there are currently between 30,000 and 50,000 SMA patients in China.
“Our spine center has treated four children with SMA. All cases had very positive improvement after surgery,” Yang said.
A patient with an extremely curved spine due to spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic disorder.
An X-ray shows the patient's extreme spinal curvature before surgery.
Screws are used to straighten and support the patient's spine during surgery.
