A five-year-old girl suffering
from a rare form of scoliosis has been cured with magnets in a
first for Italy.
The girl, who weighed just 11 kg (24 pounds, or one stone 10
pounds), presented with a form of the disease that had never
been diagnosed before.
She was operated on at Turin's Regina Margherita Hospital.
For the first time in such a case, magnetic 'growing bars'
were used, doctors said.
These enabled doctors to correct the scoliosis without
subsequent surgical interventions to lengthen the spine, they
said.
The innovative and mini-invasive technique enabled the
patient to resume a normal life after just a week, doctors said.
Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine that occurs
most often during the growth spurt just before puberty. While
scoliosis can be caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy and
muscular dystrophy, the cause of most scoliosis is unknown.
About 3% of adolescents have scoliosis.
Most cases of scoliosis are mild, but some spine deformities
continue to get more severe as children grow. Severe scoliosis
can be disabling. An especially severe spinal curve can reduce
the amount of space within the chest, making it difficult for
the lungs to function properly.
Children who have mild scoliosis are monitored closely,
usually with X-rays, to see if the curve is getting worse. In
many cases, no treatment is necessary. Some children will need
to wear a brace to stop the curve from worsening. Others may
need surgery to keep the scoliosis from worsening and to
straighten severe cases of scoliosis.
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