Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

Reported in The Daily Telegraph of 20th May 2010: Two sisters with a rare curvature of the spine have both undergone life-threatening surgery to straighten their backs. Lucy Dover, 14, and her sister Naomi, 11, both had titanium screws and rods inserted into their backs in operations lasting almost six hours each at Freeman's Hospital in Newcastle. Their mother Sarah Dover, 41, a data analyst from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, spent 16 days in hospital praying that the operations would prove a success. Naomi underwent surgery on March 31 and her sister's operation was due to take place the next day but was delayed to April 7. When Lucy woke up groggy from the anaesthetic, her sister was there by her bedside to give her a hug. Naomi said: "We both chose to have the operation at the same time - we thought we could keep each other company in hospital. "It was scary going for the operation and having my sister there really helped me get through it. I feel muc...

The Daily Mail report about a 14 year old girl, Megan Parker, 14, who was diagnosed with hemi-vertebrae and curvature of the spine at just six weeks old and had to have over 40 operations to correct her twisted back!!!! She was forced to permanently wear a specially-made body shell to correct her posture and keep her neck upright. Every time she grew medics were forced to open up her back again to stretch the titanium rods screwed into her to keep her spine straight. But after a lifetime spent in her shell she has finally broken free after racing to recovery - and has even taken up go-karting. Nowadays Meg, who wants to be a singer, can be spotted zooming around her local track - a far cry from the pace suggested by her old nickname. Megan, who lives in Colchester with full-time mum Tina, 39, and specialist car mechanic dad Robert, 43, said being without the cast had totally changed her life. She said: 'There is so much that I want to do now, but I have to take things steady becaus...

Scoliosis Journal reports about adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) which is treated with arthrodesis and posterior titanium instrumentation: 8 to 12 years follow up without late infection Authors: Franz J Mueller and Herbert Gluch email Published: 12 August 2009 Background There are no data in the peer-reviewed literature regarding long term results in patients treated for AIS with a posterior titanium instrumentation. Therefore we assessed the outcome in 50 patients treated by titanium implant. Methods A total of 50 patients with a mean age of 16.6 years were treated. In all patients, titanium hooks and pedicle screws were used in combination. The demographic data and the pre- and post-operative radiographs of all 50 patients were re-examined, and 49 of the 50 patients (98%) attended a radiological and clinical follow up-examination on average 10.1 years post-operatively. The clinical results were recorded by means of the SRS 24 questionnaire. Results In the frontal plane, the me...