Magnets in spinal rods help girl 'grow' without surgery

Mallory Smith, 8, and her mother, Sandy Smith, walk the family’s black Lab, Tucker, at their home in Richfield. Mallory has Marfan syndrome, which has caused curvature of the spine. Two titanium rods inside her help straighten her spine.

You know your children are growing when you hear, "I need new shoes" or "My swimsuit is too small."

One day last fall, Sandra Smith's 8-year-old daughter announced, "I think I need to be lengthened."

As Mallory Smith grows, her badly curved spine must be adjusted. The Richfield girl has a genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome, which afflicts about one in 5,000 people. The disorder undermines connective tissue throughout the body, resulting in a variety of problems, including scoliosis, the curvature of her spine.

Two titanium rods inside her help straighten her spine, but as she grows they need to be readjusted. And in the past, this was a problem. The readjustments meant surgery and pain. Mallory, who is in third grade, has been going through these surgeries twice a year since the age of 5.

But last spring she became the first patient in the state to receive a new spinal rod system called MAGEC when doctors at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin implanted the device in her body. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2014, the system uses powerful rare-earth magnets to make adjustments in the rod, a procedure that no longer requires surgery.

"There's a huge difference," her mother said. "Instead of staying two to three nights in the hospital, it's a 15-minute procedure. She's not sedated. She can go about her day."

Mallory's last visit to Children's Hospital a month ago passed quickly.

"You just keep growing," the nurse said, greeting the girl.

Mallory shook hands with the doctor, John G. Thometz, the hospital's medical director of orthopedic surgery.

"All right young lady, how are you doing?" he asked. "All set to go?"

She nodded.

Thometz gripped a small device that resembled a video game controller, and it kicked into action with a loud whir. He held it over the area of Mallory's body where the MAGEC rods with their magnets were embedded. Using the device, the doctor extended the spinal rod about 4 millimeters.

In 10 minutes, the procedure was done.

The down side is the cost of implanting a Magnetic Expansion Rod System, which is about $36,000 compared with $7,000 for a traditional growing rod, according to a presentation at the Scoliosis Research Society meeting last October. However, the magnetic system begins to confer big savings on the adjustment procedures. Within four years of the implant the total costs of the two systems are about the same.

The rods do not correct Mallory's scoliosis. They are not a cure. But they do minimize the progression of her condition. She will be able to use the rods until they reach their full length or until she reaches skeletal maturity. At that point, the rods will be removed.

For now, Mallory is happy with the new system. Mom and dad allow her to climb on the monkey bars as long as they are there to spot her.

She can play with Tucker, the family's black Lab, and enjoys games of basketball and kickball with her two older sisters. At school, she plays four square with her friends.

"If you didn't know her history, you couldn't tell when she runs," her mother says. "But she does have more of a gallop than a run."

Mallory also enjoys drawing pictures. One day she would like to learn the violin.

These days, the readjustment procedures for her spinal rod are no longer something she dreads.

She doesn't feel a thing.



Source : JS Online , 29th Jan 2016