Suffering from spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SED), 16-year-old Iraqi national Sajida Sallal Hatem is able to walk again thanks to complicated hip and knee corrective realignment surgeries.
Skeletal abnormalities
SED is a rare genetic bone growth disorder that results in short stature and skeletal abnormalities that primarily affect the spine (spondylo) and the ends (epiphyses) of the long bones of the limbs.
Gaurav Rathore, the associate director of the Institute of Orthopaedics at Jaypee Hospital in Noida, said on Monday that Sajida’s case was a classic case of SED.
“When I first met Sajida in 2016, her body was in a foetal position. Her back was curved, head bowed, and limbs bent and drawn up to the torso. She was suffering from multiple congenital and developmental problems with bilateral knee contracture [bent knees] and high developmental dysplasia of the hip,” said the doctor.
Sajida had undergone knee surgery in 2010 in Iraq as her knees were bent at 90 degrees and were not strong enough to take the pressure of the body. Due to lack of proper medical facilities and expertise, the surgery was unsuccessful. In fact, it worsened her condition and left her completely bedridden, Dr. Rathore said.
“After evaluation of reports, we decided to operate her in two stages. The primary reason was to see if smaller and simpler interventions would help achieve enough correction to improve her walking mannerism. In the first stage, we performed a knee surgery called supracondylar osteotomies to correct the valgus knees and straighten them to allow her to stand and walk. Her knee surgery was successful. She was discharged after complete recovery. In the second stage, after nearly 18-24 months, we performed hip surgery to correct her upper body posture, which was 45% bent towards the ground,” said Vipul Aggarwal, associate consultant, trauma and joint replacement surgeon.
Sajida said, “I was born with congenital dwarfism, as a result of which I am short in stature. I was unable to perform even the most basic tasks and always required help. Thus, my family decided to bring me to India for treatment.”
Published - August 14, 2018 02:00 am IST
