50 yo woman w flat back syndrome fixed today

Julia is 50 yo and had L3-5 instrumentation and fusion done elsewhere
now w severe flat back syndre and scoliosis w adjacent level spinal
stenosis above and below her old fusion. She also has Sjogren's
Syndrome which can lead to significant spinal destruction like
rheumatoid arthritis.

We fixed her spine today w anterior L5S1 Alif followed by posterior
osteotomies, laminectomies and extension instrumentation.

Total surgical time including the "flip" time was 5 hrs 10 min.

Complications: none
Ebl: 1000 cc.
Correction excellent
Patient had ok broken screw that we did not need to remove.

Our physician patient who had similar surgery Friday flew home to
Idaho yesterday w excellent relief and markedly improved posture. Our
50 yo scoliosis patient from Connecticut who had huge kyphoscoliosis
was discharged as well.

A good day!

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery

38 yo woman from New Mexico w adjacent level failure below old scoliosis fusion fixed today

L45 L5S1 TLIF w extension instrumentation and fusion.
No complications.
Surgical time: 4 hrs 0 min.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery

18 yo woman w 65 degree Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) fixed this afternoon

Surgical time: 2 hr 58 min.
Complications: none.
blood transfused: none.
To regular private room w mom after surgery.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic

53 yo woman w lumbar Spondylolisthesis and stenosis fixed today

L3-5 instrumentation and fusion w TLIF and laminectomies.

Surgical time: 2 hrs 10 min.
Ebl: 400
Blood transfused. None.
Complications: none.

Our 3 scoliosis and kyphosis inpatients from last week are heading out
of hospital -- one from Idaho, another from Connecticut, an a third
from Durham NC.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery

Flatback and pseudarthrosis L5S1 fixed today

Anterior L5S1 ALIF cage fusion, posterior revision instrumentation
where he broke the strong cobalt chrome rods w active lifestyle during
first year after his original surgery.

Lordosis improved from 36 to 52 deg.

Alif very helpful for increasing lordosis and providing excellent
anterior column support.

He should be heading home out west early next week.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery

Big hug from Bennie postop

He's doing great and is going fishing tomorrow.
Here today w his PA Jenny.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey clinic for scoliosis and spine surgery

Re: ltr of compliment

Chuck,
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to share your positive experience @ Hey Clinic with all of us.
I’ll pass it along to Brittany and the rest of our wonderful staff.
We do work very hard together as a team to constantly improve the care we deliver with compassionate care combined with the latest technology and ongoing process improvement.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery

On 5/13/10 10:16 PM, "chuck " <> wrote:

Dear Dr. Hey,
     This is a short letter of compliment from a first-visit patient.  Today I saw a Ms. Brittany Harris for my preliminary evaluation.  Wow, what a jewel you have in her!   She is smart, articulate, knowledgeable in her field, and has a wonderful way with people.  She was able to offer a detailed diagnosis with stunning visual aids and potential cures/options for my back problem.  Many doctors I have known over the years could take a lesson or two from her doctor-patient interaction!  I am still concerned, however, about my back issue, but am very comforted with my pick of the Hey Clinic to help me through the problem.
 
     You also need to know of the favorable impression of your environment: cleanliness, courtesy of staff, technology, etc.  As strange as it sounds, one of the things which stands out in my mind was the "wire management" of your computer/tech equipment in the examination room.   I said to myself:  If they pay this kind of attention to detail to something like this, then they will certainly pay exceptional attention to my ailing back.  Well done on making a most favorable first impression; for, as you know, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.  I look forward to meeting you during a future visit.  r/chuck c____
    

49 yo woman from Connecticut w severe kyphoscoliosis fixed today

Severe progressive back pain and deformity. 64/53 deg scoli curves w
severe lumbar collapse. 87 degree kyphosis.
Surgical time: 6 hrs 30 min.
Complications: none.
T4-iliac wing instrumentation and fusion w osteomies.
Blood transfused: 2 units.
Complications: none.

A great day. She will Love her new posture. The huge humps are gone!

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery.

Getting best possible correction for scoliosis and spine surgery. Good question from Liz.

Liz,
That is a good article, but kinda old — really was addressing a couple different ways of getting correction with CD system with hooks.

There are basically 10 things that you can do to enhance and/or improve scoliosis and kyphosis correction in adolescents or adults:

1. Use screws rather than hooks for whole construct.  Screws give better “hold” and are more lateral, enhancing correction.
2. Using more points of fixation — in some cases  two pedicle screws at every vertebral body level.
3. Osteotomies / bone wedges to free up and allow more correction.  Big osteotomies, including vertebral column resection (VCR) are also possible, but are much more invasive.
4. Using stronger rod, like Cobalt Chrome, which holds it shape better.
5. Rod Rotation ( as mentioned in the article you shared)
6. Translation (mentioned in article) -- I use some special “Pursuader” tools that allow me to do this in a very special and powerful way to get better correction.
7. Compression and/or distraction of individual segments.
8. How you contour the rods.
9. What levels you choose to fuse.
10. Correcting with two rods at the same time as opposed to traditional one rod at a time technique (our  method)
    

How you combine all of these various “tools” is where the art and experience comes in.

There is a bunch of literature out there, as well as lots of abstracts / presentations from Scoliosis Research Society that I have at my office.
We’re in the process of writing up my series of scoliosis patients using the combination of all nine techniques above, with our special dual rod  pursuader technique, which I’ve developed over past 2 years.

Here’s a couple articles you might find helpful:

1. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/448311_2
2. http://www.spineuniverse.com/professional/pathology/deformity/adolescent-idiopathic-scoliosis-treated-posterior
   

I can get you more if needed.
You are going to have your PhD in Scoliosis Surgery!  Should help you as a Scoliosis Buddy some day!

Hope this answers your question.

Take care,

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com


On 5/7/10 6:52 PM, "Liz" <> wrote: 

re the cd method vs yours, does this article (I realize it's old) articulate the differences between the two different method's techniques for derotating the spine?  (rotation maneuver vs a translation maneuver)?  If not, do you have any literature on how your method is the best of breed?  I totally trust you that it is, but I'd love to read up on it if you can steer me in the right direction.  Sorry I have been flooding your inbox as of late. 

http://journals.lww.com/spinejournal/Abstract/1999/10010/Intraoperative_Comparison_of_Two_Instrumentation.9.aspx

Amazing Thank You Note and Gift from US Soldier husband of 36 yo Melanie, who had scoliosis surgery with us

April 26, 2010

Dear Dr. Hey,
Please accept this gift as a small token of our gratitude for your help these last few years, and especially for the extraordinary surgery with which you gave Melanie renewed mobility, freedom from migraines and beautiful correction!

We want you to have an enjoyable evening with your family, and this restaurant comes highly recommended.  May God bless your future endeavors, and continue to use you as a blessing to others, as He already has.

Yours,
Phil and Melanie

===================
I received this awesome personal thank you note from Melanie and her husband Phil today, which was really encouraging.  I took care of Melanie while her husband Phil was stationed at Fort Bragg as US Soldier, and had to spend quite a bit of time overseas.  She was a young mom with a very large painful scoliosis that had gotten quite a bit worse after her baby was born.  She did great with her surgery, and was able to handle her mom duties well at the same time.

I hadn’t heard from her in quite a while, but just got this note today, with an incredibly generous gift certificate to one of the best restaurants in Raleigh.  Knowing how tight their money is as a military family with young kids, and seeing this note with the gift certificate, I must admit that my eyes welled up a bit and I had to catch my breath.  Now, as I read it over again in the quiet of the evening, it is still a powerful encouragement.

Phil and Melanie:  I will never forget this incredibly thoughtful and generous gift.  You are right — the restaurant you selected is probably the nicest restaurant in Raleigh!
I can’t tell you how it encourages me and our team to continue to care for families like yours.
Your generosity simply overwhelms me, especially as your family has already sacrificed so much to help serve our country and the many people who are in war-torn countries that the US seeks to help.

When my son returns from college in a few weeks, we will make a point to take that gift card down to Raleigh and celebrate.  He’s been away from home for 5 months now, and we’ll use this opportunity to have special welcome home!

Thanks again.  You are both a blessing.  Please come back and see us when you can make it back to North Carolina.
Perhaps I can stop in and see you --------- make sure you keep us up to date with your latest address.  Shelbi in our office designed a new Hey Clinic T-Shirt, and I’ll get her to send you a couple when we get our next shipment in.

Take care and thanks again.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com

FW: Eric, 37 yo gentleman w/ flatback (flat back) syndrome from Kentucky sends thankful email 7.5 months after surgery at Hey Clinic

I received this encouraging email from Eric, who travelled all the way from Kentucky to get his flat back fixed by our Hey Clinic team at Duke Health Raleigh.  Thanksgivings like this, especially at the end of a long day in the operating room and clinic really are an encouragement to me and our team, Eric.   Thanks for taking the time to share.
Dr. Hey
----------------------
On 5/3/09 5:24 PM, "ERIK " <ERIK---------> wrote:

Hello Dr. Hey,

I was just thinking it's been seven and a half months since you operated on to fix my flatback.  The difference in my life is amazing.  I love to walk now,  because I can.  I stand up at work more than I sit now, because I can.  I spent the last 15 years taking narcotic pain meds everyday and now I take Aleve twice a day instead.  Knowing I feel this good so soon after surgery I can only imagine how it will be once I've completely healed.  So I'd like to just say Thank You from the bottom of my heart.  I would say that you'll never really know the difference you've made in my life, but after helping so many others I'm sure that you do.

God Bless You,

Erik _______

His original Hey Clinic Blogs can be seen at:
 http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2009/09/36-yo-gentleman-from-kentucky-sp.html
And
http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2009/09/back-to-my-old-self-standing-3-inches.html

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com

11 yo w painful adolescent idiopathic scoliosis fixed today

This young lady was really suffering with progressive thoracic pain
despite significant conservative therapy. When i trained as a resident
and fellow at Boston Childrens, we were taught that AIS shoul not be
painful it turns out that studies done since then showed that many
adolescents w scoliosis have pain many adults also have pain.

Her curve progressed to just under 40 degrees up til this point. Her
twin sister also has scoliosis.

Her surgery this am went great.
Surgical time: 2 hrs 31 min.
Ebl: 500 cc
Cell saver: 200 cc
Complications: none
Correction: excellent.

This weekend I met 30 yo woman from Washington DC, who has scoliosis
in mid 40's with pain and increased visible deformity. Visit worked
out well with my layover in Baltimore!

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery