Jeremiah Knowlton can walk a little straighter, thanks to a new magnetic treatment device for scoliosis.
Doctors at New York-Presbyterian Hospital replaced their scalpels with the handheld MAGEC (MAGnetic Expansion Control) device to help treat the six-year-old boy from Allendale, New Jersey, who was diagnosed with the spinal curvature. Knowlton was the first patient in the New York area to undergo the spinal-lengthening treatment, according to the New York Daily News.
Knowlton was born with a 25 degree curve that got worse as he grew older. "Left untreated, early-onset scoliosis can seriously affect lung function and lead to a shorter lifespan," said Dr. Michael Vitale, chief of the pediatric spine and scoliosis service at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NY-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.
"We pay a lot more attention to young children with scoliosis for those reasons," he said.
The FDA approved the MAGEC device back in February. Patients under 10 undergo a minimally invasive procedure to implant the MAGEC rod, according to Ellipse Technologies. The External Remote Controller can then non-invasively distract or retract the rod during quick, outpatient visits. The device had already been used in 24 countries to treat more than 750 children.
"I have to give (the FDA) a lot of credit," Vitale told the New York Daily News. "They got it. They paid attention. No one really thought it would happen the way it happened."
Dr. Michael Vitale performed Knowlton's first lengthening procedure last week. The device synced the rod and pulled it 5 millimeters in just a few minutes.
Knowlton will have the noninvasive procedure every three months until he's a teenager. The regular appointments will keep up with normal spine growth and maintain the curve correction, according to the New York Daily News.
"The ultimate goal is to get the child close to the end of growth with a spinal length more or less the same as normal," Vitale said. "This allows normal lung growth and avoidance of the problems which can occur if the curve progresses."
Knowlton faces other medical maladies. He is nonverbal and was born with a cleft lip and palate. He didn't fully develop neurologically, but he can communicate using an iPad.
