USA: BALTIMORE CLINIC PERFORMS SURGERY ON ACHONDROPLASIA /DWARFISM PATIENTS TO LENGTHEN THEIR LIMBS BY UP TO 12 INCHES

Record ID: 860923

  • Title: USA: BALTIMORE CLINIC PERFORMS SURGERY ON ACHONDROPLASIA /DWARFISM PATIENTS TO LENGTHEN THEIR LIMBS BY UP TO 12 INCHES
  • Date: 24th January 2002
  • Summary: SLV TWO DWARFS/ ACHONDRONPLASIA SUFFERERS N IN HALLWAY (THE TALL GIRL, AT 5 FEET 2 INCHES HAS COMPLETED HER SURGERY, THE SHORT WOMAN ON THE RIGHT, HAS ALREADY HAD HER ARMS LENGTHENED, BUT NOT HER HEIGHT, AS SHE HAS JUST BEGUN THE LEG LENGTHENING PROCESS) WIDE OF OPERATING ROOM
  • Embargoed: 8th February 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, USA
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA5MRMJ1PBT7G3WGRHM2AP92MBD
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Two U.S. surgeons in Baltimore, Maryland run an
    internationally known Dwarf clinic, where they lengthen the
    limbs of patients by up to twelve inches (30.48 centimetres).



    They say two things you can't change in life are your
    age and height. Twenty-year-old Meredith Jones is disproving
    one of those myths with the help of an orthopaedic surgeon
    named Dr. Dror Paley.

    Jones suffers from achondroplasia, or dwarfism, and stands
    4'2" (127 centimetres) tall. But over the next three years,
    Jones will grow ten inches (25.4 centimetres).

    Today she's undergoing her second of three surgeries.

    Jones gained five inches (12.6 centimetres) in her legs after
    the first surgery.

    At Sinai hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Paley and
    Dr. John Herzenberg will perform the limb lengthening
    procedure on her upper arm in less than an hour. Together the
    internationally known surgeons have performed more than 4,000
    operations.

    During the procedure, Paley will place three screws into
    Jones' humerus bone. To aide in the procedure, doctors will
    rely on imaging technology to show them the exact placement of
    the screw.

    Next, very carefully, Paley will break Jones' bone, and
    hold it in place with the external fixture. Finally he'll lock
    it in place. For the next seven months, Meredith will
    rotate the screw four times daily to lengthen the bones. The
    device works by gradually pulling the broken bone apart, which
    will then be filled in by new bone.

    The stark contrast between these two young women - a
    former patient who has completed the three year limb
    lengthening process and another patient just beginning the
    procedure - shows the dramatic results of this cutting edge
    surgery.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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