SpineJournal.gr

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 26 – In children with Prader Willi syndrome (PWS), surgical treatment of moderate scoliosis deformities does not generally appear to be necessary, according to a German and a UK researcher.

“Very simply,” investigator Dr. Hans-Rudolf Weiss told Reuters Health, “there is no medical indication for surgery in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis when treated on a high quality conservative basis.”

“Overall, as there is only a cosmetic indication for surgery, the patients have to decide themselves, and not the physician, who in many cases is affiliated with the surgical industry,” he added.

Dr. Weiss of Koob-Scolitech, Abtweiler, and Dr. Deborah Goodall of Ealing Hospital, London, conducted a literature search and report their findings in a May 6th publication of the online journal Scoliosis. The investigators found that the prevalence of scoliosis in PWS children is high (37.5%) and many (13%) had undergone brace treatment or surgery.

The team then looked at outcomes in 9 subjects in their outpatient database who had undergone conservative therapy. All had reached the age of at least 19 years by the time of the study and thus were not subject to significant residual growth.

All were treated conservatively with growth hormone, diet control and exercise. Curvature remained within 70 and improved in some of the patients. There was deterioration in 1 patient, but this was due to non-compliance with adequate brace wearing.

“Considering the fact that the complications of patients with PWS undergoing this surgery are high and the health-related benefits of such surgery in this population remain controversial,” the investigators conclude, “the indication for conservative treatment seems safer than spinal fusion surgery in this specific population.”

A bullied teenager cruelly nicknamed ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ because her spine was twisted by 90 degrees can finally stand up to her tormentors after undergoing life-saving surgery.

Jessica Bishop, 14, was bent-double after scoliosis twisted her spine ‘like a corkscrew’.

The curve left her so hunched to the right that her ribs were resting on her hips.  Her lungs were being crushed – leaving them working at just 60 per cent capacity – and she lost two inches in height.

She was warned that without surgery her spine could become paralysed and even die if left untreated.

Heartless bullies taunted 4ft 6in Jessica about her mis-shapen back and hobbled walk – branding her ‘The Hunchback’.

Devastated Jessica endured months of cruel jibes and she cried herself to sleep at her home in Kidderminster, Worcs.

But now Jessica is standing 2 inches taller after undergoing an 11-hour operation at Birmingham’s Royal Orthopaedic Hospital

Jessica was diagnosed with scoliosis 16 months ago when she was having a dress fitted and the tailor spotted her crooked shoulders.

She was due to have the op just before Christmas but because of a backlog of patients she was told she would have to wait four more painful months.

During that time her spine continued to twist out of shape and she had to prop herself up on five pillows in order to get a good night’s sleep.

She could only walk by shuffling sideways to relief the pressure on her hips and doctors feared her heart was at risk because her ribs were squashing her arteries.

Jessica was finally admitted to hospital in March when a team of five specialists performed an 11-hour operation on her back.

The angle of her spine was reduced by 62 degrees to 28 degrees and it is hoped that the metal plates will prevent any future bending.