He is only 16 years old but what he is living at the moment can be defined to all intents and purposes as a "new life".
This is what happened to Vanessa (not her real name), an Italian girl suffering from a rare combined form of scoliosis and kyphosis . The disease, which led her back to bend 90 degrees , has caused her over the years not only debilitating pain but also a progressive limitation of the mobility of the column . Four months ago, last November, what many have defined as a real "miracle" took place: the patient left the operating room of the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute in Bologna after a 7-hour operation performed by the Vertebral Surgery directed by Dr. Alessandro Gasbarrini . And her back has returned to its natural position , increasing the girl's height by 15 centimeters and eliminating the causes of years of suffering. As Gasbarrini explained, the intervention was «complex and delicate.
During the surgery , a thoracic vertebrae was removed and screws and metal rods were inserted into nearby vertebrae to hold them in place. The removed vertebra was replaced with a titanium prosthesis » Upon arrival at the ward, after five days in post-operative intensive care, the 16-year-old was able to stand up: the rehabilitation process began immediately, and then continued at home. Today it's only two sessions a week, because Vanessa has recovered full functionality , thanks to the body that has become accustomed to the new anatomy of the back, while before being operated on, she was also struggling to wash her hair by herself.
« To undergo an operation like this in the United States of America you need more than a million dollars . It may seem incredible but we have seen the estimates made to our patients who, before arriving at Rizzoli, a public research hospital, turned to North American centers », commented the general manager of Rizzoli Anselmo Campagna .
(Unioneonline/vf)
