Spine surgeons performed a rare case on a 9-month-old baby at Indianapolis-based Riley Hospital for Children, Fox 59 reported March 24.
The baby girl had congenital vertebral dislocation, a spinal curvature affecting her other organs, the report said. Pediatric orthopedic surgeon Tyler Christman, DO, told Fox 59 that he and other medical staff met the baby when she was six months old after her parents saw a bump on her back.
“Ultimately, an MRI determined that she had a unique condition called a congenital vertebral dislocation and associated with that was a compression of her spinal cord,” Dr. Christman said in the report. “That compression of her spinal cord was affecting some of her other organ systems, specifically her urinary system, which put pressure on her kidneys and put those structures at risk.”
Spine surgeon Aki Puryear, MD, said the team used 3D modeling and consulted other surgeons to help plan the case. Dr. Christman said one key challenge they had to overcome was finding spine implants to accommodate the 12-pound baby.
The surgery, which was expected to take six to 12 hours lasted less than four hours, and Dr. Christman said he was optimistic about the baby’s outlook.