BACKGROUND: Gavin Azzopardi was born with a congenital hand deformity. These hand deformities have no known cause, and come in several different forms. Gavin suffered from the most common form of hand deformity symbrachydactyly. Children born with symbracydactyly have either small or missing fingers, or a missing hand. They may also have webbed fingers, or a short hand. The deformity is usually only on one side, and there may be muscle abnormalities on that side as well. Other types of hand deformities include abnormal thumbs (or trigger thumbs), webbed fingers, and extra fingers. Gavin began his series of treatments and surgeries when he was nine months old. After four surgeries and two years of treatment, Gavin’s new fingers have muscle attachments and some tendon attachments, which move. (SOURCE: Shriners Hospital for Children)
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT: Congenital hand deformities are typically spotted at birth. Depending on the severity of the deformity a child may have to undergo testing to find out if the deformity is part of an underlying medical problem. The most common treatments for congenital hand deformities are skin grafting, removal of extra fingers, separation and reconstruction of attached fingers, physical and occupational therapy, and surgery to optimize a limb for a prosthetic device. (SOURCE: University of Alabama Department of Medicine)
DOCTOR RESULTS: Dr. William Seitz is an orthopedic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Throughout his career, Dr. Seitz has performed more than 400 bone-lengthening procedures. He has also published the results of those surgeries in a study in the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. According to the study, out of 141 patients who underwent the surgeries, 88 percent had no trouble performing daily activities. Overall, more than 98 percent of the families who received the treatment said they would do it again, and 92 percent of the patients reported they were very satisfied with their ability to manipulate objects and improve their handwriting.
(SOURCE: Beckersorthopedicandspine.com) MORE
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Monina Wagner
Cleveland Clinic
(216) 444-2412
Wagnerm5@ccf.org
Growing New Fingers For Gavin -- Research Summary | Medical News and Health Information
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