European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society
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Scoliosis among children and adolescents is a persistent problem. Worldwide, it afflicts between 0.3 to 15.3% of the population. One of the treatment methods of this disorder is to administer lateral electrical surface stimulation (LESS) for 9 h/day; unfortunately, however, this results in side-effects. ⋯ The degree of scoliotic deformity (according to the Cobb method) ranged from 21 degrees to 410 degrees (mean, 31.2 degrees) and from 23 degrees to 330 degrees (mean, 30 degrees) in groups 1 and 2, respectively. LESS resulted in spinal deformity to a similar degree in the rabbits treated for either 9 or 2 h/day over a 3-month period. Short LESS therapy (2 h/day) significantly reduced detrimental effects associated with the treatment on internal organs of laboratory animals.
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Cardiac transplant surgery is being performed with increasing frequency as a treatment for end-stage heart disease. In addition to the well-known post-surgical problems of rejection and infection, these patients may present at a future date with other medical problems which require surgical treatment, including orthopaedic pathology. ⋯ Several cases of cholecystectomy performed in heart transplant recipients have been described, but to our knowledge no orthopaedic procedures have been reported in such patients. We report on a 15-year-old patient who underwent successful corrective surgery for idiopathic scoliosis 14 months after heart transplant.
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Gordon's Syndrome is described as an autosomal dominant condition with the characteristics of short stature, a stiff spine, camptodactyly (89%), cleft palate (27%) and club feet (73%). The authors present a case report of a patient with this rare entity complicated by an unusual complex spinal deformity. There are no prior reports in the literature concerning operative or nonoperative management of deformity in this patient population. Scoliosis in Gordon's Syndrome shares the characteristics of an arthrogrypotic neuromuscular curve and demands extensive soft tissue release for optimal correction.