Story 1 – Yan Yan

Yan Yan was referred to DKCH when she was about nine years old in June 2011.  She suffered from juvenile idiopathic scoliosis with Cobb’s angle of 68.2°, and trunk shift of 3.7 cm to the right.   Juvenile idiopathic scoliosis is primarily a coronal plane deformity of the spine, meaning that it is evident when viewed directly from the front or the back.  In her case she stood with one shoulder higher and there was a large hump on one side of the back when looking at her from behind. When Yang Yan bent over, the hump or “little mountain” was unsightly.

During the girl’s rapid growth phase, the curve had great potential to worsen. Doctors at DKCH would like to achieve a balanced and stable vertebral column at the end of the Yan Hang’s growth spurt. Therefore controlling the curve was vital.  The doctors and the parents decided to opt for the MAGEC system.  The surgery of implanting the magnetic controlled growing rod took place on 28th November, 2011. After elongation sessions over three years time, 10mm had been extracted from the rod.  Given the progress in her visits to the clinic, her doctor decided Yan Yan should move on from the phase of using the magnetic controlled growing rod to the next phase. Yan Yan received the rod removal and fusion surgery on 21 May 2014.  Her post-operation Cobb’s angle is 35°.  By using magnetic controlled growing rod, there had been two surgeries only as compared to the traditional treatment with several surgeries, she spared the agony.