Height?

[fatimah]

Hey respected Pooka
I am 16 years old..
And what are beta blockers??

[rohrer01]

The valve leaks are one thing that probably won't kill you but the deaths are largely due to aortic aneurysm and rupture from dissection as far as I know. That is the main thing we are checking with the echos to my knowledge. The bottom line I am waiting to hear from the ped. cardio guy is always whether or not the aorta has enlarged. So far it has not but they have many years to go before we can tentatively rule out emergent Marfans on that score anyway. And actually, I am not aware of needing to know about Marfans UNLESS there is aortic enlargement. That's what kills people early and why Marfans is associated with a shortened lifespan. With careful monitoring of the aorta, nobody needs to die in their forties any more from this. My kids have now had two rounds of echos and we can't stop even though they are both normal and show no enlargement to date.

These one-time echos on kids canNOT rule out emergent Marfans. They can help rule it in if the aorta is too large already. A one-time echo on someone older than 30 or so might go far to ruling out aortic issues associated with Marfans as far as I know.

Thanks for the info. I'm not going to worry about it for myself. My daughter has very large hands and feet for her small stature. She's very short coming from two taller than average parents, but has long arms and legs for her height. It's doubtful that I could convince her to get her aorta checked since she won't even get her scoliosis checked.

[Pooka1]

Hey respected Pooka
I am 16 years old..
And what are beta blockers??

Fatimah,

I am sorry I forgot to respond to this.

If you have a diagnosis of Marfans and you are 16, it is malpractice not to monitor your heart and vessels. You need to find a doctor who understands this. My daughters don';t have a diagnosis but we can't rule out emergent Marfans so we get the imaging at least until they are 30. I read recently that about 90% of Marfans patients have some issue with their heart/vessels. Save yourself.

Beta blockers are blood pressure medications that are effective in not only avoiding aortic enlargement but can also help the aorta shrink back some as far as I know. Taking them when the aorta starts to enlarge is a way to avoid surgery as far as I know. You would have to take them for years, maybe even for life but that is better than heart surgery.

[fatimah]

Fatimah,

I am sorry I forgot to respond to this.

If you have a diagnosis of Marfans and you are 16, it is malpractice not to monitor your heart and vessels. You need to find a doctor who understands this. My daughters don';t have a diagnosis but we can't rule out emergent Marfans so we get the imaging at least until they are 30. I read recently that about 90% of Marfans patients have some issue with their heart/vessels. Save yourself.

Beta blockers are blood pressure medications that are effective in not only avoiding aortic enlargement but can also help the aorta shrink back some as far as I know. Taking them when the aorta starts to enlarge is a way to avoid surgery as far as I know. You would have to take them for years, maybe even for life but that is better than heart surgery.

So, i will have to use this medication when I will have some these heart issues or should start from now?
I think i should now urgently find some good cardiologist.Because i dont want to have the cardiac issues, Spine issues are enough for me...

[Pooka1]

So, i will have to use this medication when I will have some these heart issues or should start from now?
I think i should now urgently find some good cardiologist.Because i dont want to have the cardiac issues, Spine issues are enough for me...

I agree you need to find a cardiologist who knows what to look for in Marfan's patients. My daughters have a pediatric cardiologist who is doing research with Marfan's kids. So he knows exactly what he's doing. You need to be monitored for life if you have a Marfan's diagnosis. The only people who die from Marfan's are those who don't know they have it and therefore don't know to monitor their heart/vessels.

You don't take the meds until you have confirmed enlargement as far as I know. Your cardiologist would know, not me.

[fatimah]

Awwwh so nice of you.Thank you very much for such a nice guideline.
Yesterday, i was trying to send you private text.But your message quota is filled.therefore, delete some texts so, i could send you text. :P

[Pooka1]

Awwwh so nice of you.Thank you very much for such a nice guideline.
Yesterday, i was trying to send you private text.But your message quota is filled.therefore, delete some texts so, i could send you text. :P

Okay sorry about that. I have more room now.

[Kat3573]

Out of curiosity..... Having a 10 vertebrae fusion, how many centimenter will I lose? I think it was .7 millimeters per vertebrae but I'm not sure.....

[Pooka1]

Out of curiosity..... Having a 10 vertebrae fusion, how many centimenter will I lose? I think it was .7 millimeters per vertebrae but I'm not sure.....

How old were you in years and months when you were fused?

[Pooka1]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1538980/

Vertebral height growth predominates over intervertebral disc height growth in adolescents with scoliosis.
Ian A.F. Stokes, PhD and Luke Windisch, BS*
Author information ► Copyright and License information ►
The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at Spine (Phila Pa 1976)
See other articles in PMC that cite the published article.
Go to:
Abstract
Study Design

A cross sectional study of spinal stereo radiographs of adolescents with scoliosis to measure growth.

Objective

To determine the relative contributions of the vertebral bodies and the intervertebral discs to the increase in spinal length between T5 to L5 over the age range 7.5 to 20 years.

Summary of Background Data

The progression of spinal deformity (scoliosis) is associated with skeletal growth, but the relative roles of asymmetrical growth and remodelling of the vertebrae and discs during adolescent growth is unclear.

Methods

An existing database of 406 spinal stereo radiographic studies of 188 adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis, aged between 7.5 and 20 years was used to measure the heights of vertebral bodies and of intervertebral discs and the summation of both (spinal length).

Results

Spinal length was observed to increase from about 250 mm to 350 mm over this range of ages. Spinal growth was associated with increase in vertebral height after age 10 years, with minimal if any increase in disc height. The contribution of vertebral and discal height was estimated to be about 17 and 8 mm per year respectively at age 7.5 years, but discal height growth was estimated to be effectively zero after age 12.

Conclusion

Spinal growth of patients with scoliosis aged between 10 and 20 years occurs almost exclusively by height increases in the vertebrae, not the discs.

Mini-Abstract

Spinal length over the range T5 to L5, and its components due to vertebral height and discal height were measured from 406 spinal stereo radiographic studies of 188 adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis, aged between 7.5 and 20 years. This cross-sectional analysis indicated that after age 10 years spinal growth was associated with increase in vertebral height, with minimal if any increase in disc height.

[Pooka1]

http://www.bjj.boneandjoint.org.uk/c...5/724.full.pdf

OBSERVATIONS ON THE GROWTH OF THE
ADOLESCENT SPINE
A. G. VELDHUIZEN, P. BAAS. P. J. WEBB
Front the Roi’aI National Orthopaedic Hospital, London, and the Unirersitv of Groningen, The Netherlands
We have measured the increase in height and width of the vertebral bodies and expressed them as
percentages of the total growth in children aged 10 to 17 years. The first group, 10 boys and 10 girls, each had
a single thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis while the second group, 10 girls, each had a single lumbar
adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
No significant differences were found between the growth increments and spirnil dimensions of the
vertebral bodies involved in the scoliotic curve and those vertebrae outside the curve in the same patient. The
vertebrae were more slender in girls than in boys.

[Kat3573]

13 years nine months and a half when I had the surgery

[Pooka1]

Huge variation. Guestimating from the one paper, no more than about 2 cm and probably less.

Check this out...

http://www.iscoliosis.com/faq.html?i..._left_unfused?

[Kat3573]

Thanks pooka!

[susancook]

Wow I wish i was 5'10"! I'm barely 5'6"

I used to be 5' 2.5" and was measured at the osteoporosis screening center at 4'11". Does that qualify me to join The Little People of America Club? Maybe I have a future as a munchkin? My next lifetime, I'm coming back as a 6'2" Amazon woman and am going to join the Marine Corps. Watch out!
Susan