Girl with rare disease has curved spine tightened by 14 screws
The curved spine before surgery (left) and the post-surgery renovated spine (right)
A 14-year-old girl, with an extremely curved spine due to a rare disease, is now able to tighten her S-shaped back after undergoing surgery at a Shanghai hospital that transplanted 14 screws.
The girl, a Henan Province native, was diagnosed with Turner syndrome at the age of 4 when undergoing congenital heart disease surgery in Beijing.
Turner syndrome is a condition that affects only females when one of the X chromosomes is missing or partially missing. The disease can cause a variety of medical and developmental problems, including short height, failure of the ovaries to develop, heart defects and deformed spine.
The girl started to feel back and waist pain six months ago and the parents took her to a local hospital in Henan, which diagnosed her with serious curved spine and provided non-surgical treatment. However, the girl's condition failed to improve and instead became serious. Her parents then brought her to Dr Lao Lifeng at Shanghai's Renji Hospital.
After detailed checks, doctors confirmed the girl had a 62-degree curved spine and suggested immediate renovation surgery.
"It is a very complicated and risky surgery, as the patient's spine has deformed and spun. Any mistake can result in spinal and nervous injury. The most serious consequence can be paralysis," said Lao, chief surgeon of the operation.
The operation went smoothly. Doctors transplanted 14 screws onto the spine to help repair it. After the surgery, the curve was reduced from 62 degrees only 6 degrees and the girl's height also increased from 150 centimeters to 152 centimeters.
Doctors said children with Turner syndrome can suffer a very slow growth after reaching 3 years old and usually have a short height as adults. So each centimeter of growth is very precious for such patients.
They pointed out that there are various reasons for curved spine, which can have a negative impact on children's figure and posture and also influence their heart and lung function and mental health.
"Early detection and intervention are important for curved spine. For those with curve less than 20 degrees, proper renovation and sports can be useful. For those with curve between 20 and 40 degrees, brace is necessary, and those with more serious curve should consider surgery," according Dr Feng Fan from Renji's spinal surgery department.
Renji Hospital doctors take part in the curved spine renovation surgery.
