Dr. Andrew Hecht: “Mount Sinai Health Beat: Levine Treated for Rare Injury”
At age 13, Robert Levine suffered an injury so rare that you can count the number of known occurrences in the United States on the fingers of one hand. In fact, it’s so exceptional that it became the subject of two medical journal articles penned by Andrew Hecht, MD, Associate Professor of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery, and Co-Chair of Spine Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Hecht was the doctor that discovered the cause of pain that Robert had suffered for almost a year and which became so bad he couldn’t even arch his back. Dr. Hecht who, with the aid of an MRI and bone scan, found that Robert had an interspinous ligament avulsion. “In young people, ligaments are often stronger than bone and can rip the end of the bone, but, usually, this injury repairs itself,” said Dr. Hecht. Dr. Hecht removed the non-healing bone and Robert’s recovery was long and painful — four months after the surgery, he was able to play tennis, but only for a few minutes at a time. Learn more