"‘Dancing With The Stars’ Pro Surprises Teen With Scoliosis Who Can Dance Again After Surgery" — Catherine Thorbecke
A championship ballroom dancer who was forced to give up her passion due to a medical condition that caused her spine to be disfigured is now able to dance again following a life‐changing experimental surgery that re‐aligned her spine. Despite being diagnosed with scoliosis, a disorder in which there is a sideways curve of the spine, the dancer thinks dancing is what she was meant to do. The dancer found Baron Lonner, MD, professor of orthopaedics, pediatrics and neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who offered an experimental, and not FDA approved 7 alternative treatment for scoliosis called tethering. In this procedure, Dr. Lonner attached a flexible cord onto screws placed in the vertebrae. When the cord is tightened, it compresses the screw to straighten the spine. “It preserves and maintains flexibility for the patient, as well as growth for those who are still growing,” Dr. Lonner said. He added that, “our hope is to develop this procedure so that we will have cords that last a lifetime.”
- Baron Lonner, MD, Professor, Orthopaedics, Pediatrics, Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai