Congenital absence of the lumbar spine and sacrum: one-stage reconstruction with subsequent two-stage spine lengthening.
This is a case report of a child born with severe, type IV lumbosacral agenesis. At age 6 years, she had surgical reconstruction of her absent spine and thoracic-pelvic instability with Harrington rods and autogenous bone obtained from simultaneous bilateral knee disarticulations. This arthrodesis healed solidly, and at the age of 10 years 6 months and again at age 12 years 6 months, she underwent spine lengthening by osteotomy and distraction instrumentation, the first time with Moe rods and the second time with Cotrel-Dubousset rods. Both lengthening osteotomies healed without difficulty. The spine lengthening achieved was 5.0 cm.
Spine Service, Gillette Children's Hospital, Minnesota Spine Center, Minneapolis 55434.
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Winter
D001852:Bone Lengthening / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D002648:Child; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000002:abnormalities*; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011859:Radiography; D012447:Sacrum / Q000002:abnormalities*; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards