66 yo woman from Princeton, NJ with severe progressive thoracolumbar scolioisis. Hey Clinic Surgery April 7 2008

Mary is a delightful woman from Princeton, NJ who has been suffering with severe progressive scoliosis for many years.  She had been told there was no hope / no cure for her problem, and her pain continued to increase.  She travelled 468 miles down from Princeton to see us a couple months ago, after hearing about Hey Clinic through a physician friend who heard one of my lectures last year.

Her X-Rays done at Hey Clinic showed a 56 degree lumbar collapsing scoliosis with a fairly large thoracic curve above that, and Lateral X-Ray showing fairly significan loss of lumbar lordosis.
This past Monday, I performed a posterior T4-Iliac Wing reconstruction, using titanium pedicle screw and rod instrumentation, multiple lumbar osteotomies and laminectomies, and bone grafting.
Surgical time: 5 hours 30 minutes
Estimated Blood Loss:  2100 cc
Cell Saver given back to patient: 875 cc
Blood transfused:  1 unit PRBC
Complications: none.
Scoliosis Correction:  55 degrees preop to 33 degrees intra-op. Lumbar lordosis also restored.
Postoperative course:  doing well with physical and occupational therapy.  Some intermittent nausea.  Her standing posture is excellent, and she walks well with small amount of assistance.
Discharge likely Monday, staying locally for a couple weeks before heading back to NJ.


Lloyd A. Hey, MD MS
http://www.heyclinic.com
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA