In China, a 46-year-old man underwent successful spinal surgery when he was in danger of dying. He had suffered from an extremely severe form of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) since his teenage years.
This is the first time such a feat has been achieved in China. In the province of Hunan, Li Hua, 46 years old and carrier since his adolescence of the ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease leading to ossification of the spine, was successfully operated on. After spending 28 years literally folded in on himself, his head against his thighs looking at his feet, he can now move without assistance, revealed the DailyMail December 16.
Li Hua was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) at the age of 18. But it is especially in the last five years that his condition has worsened. His spine becoming more and more curved, he can no longer eat, sit, lie down or walk without his mother’s help.
In 2018 he requested medical care assistance. He was refused surgery on the grounds that it would be too dangerous. In May this year, he finally met Professor Tao Huiren, the head of spinal surgery and orthopedics at the General Hospital of theshenzhen university.
The expert has already treated other patients with similar problems, but never such a serious case. With Li Hua’s life in grave danger unless the strain on his heart and lungs is relieved, he accepts the challenge of the operation, the surgical equivalent of climbing Mount Everest.
Eternal Gratitude
In June, the patient undergoes the first phase of a perilous operation consisting in destroying and reconstructing the entire spinal column. “The only solution was to break his bones section by section – femur, cervical vertebra, thoracic vertebra – and straighten his spine,” says Tao Huiren.
The operation being “20 to 30 times more risky than a conventional operation, his chances of becoming paraplegic were high”, he explains. Fortunately, Li is only 90 cm tall, which allows him to be successfully operated on. In a few months, he was still operated on four times to put his bones back in place.
Now he can move around using a walker. However, he will still need two to three months of physical therapy before he can perform all the movements necessary for daily life. “Of course, he won’t be able to do anything too extreme like boxing or playing tennis, but all regular body movements won’t be a problem,” says Tao Huiren.
Anyway, Li Hua’s gratitude is eternal. “Professor Tao is my savior and my gratitude for him is that which I would have for a second mother”, he enthuses today.
In France, 0.2 to 0.3% of the population is affected by AS
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a rare type of arthritis, probably caused by a faulty gene. Inflammation of the spine makes the back, rib cage, and neck stiff and painful. This causes the bones to wear down and the body then produces extra calcium to grow more bones. This process causes other bones to form, sometimes in the wrong places. Those of the spine can then merge, causing a forward tilt, more or less severe, which is called kyphosis.
In France, between 130,000 to 200,000 people suffer from AS, i.e. 0.2 to 0.3% of the population. The disease most often appears in adolescence, although the first symptoms can appear until the age of 30.
Once diagnosed, the patient will be prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics or corticosteroids. Rehabilitation and rehabilitation care is also needed to maintain range of motion and ensure the neck and back do not stiffen.
In the most serious cases, like that of Li Hua, surgery is proposed. The latter “can significantly improve people’s lives”, explains Professor Paul Emery, spokesperson for the association Versus Arthritis, at the DailyMail.
