BACKGROUND Theoretically, dynamic thoracic compliance (DTC) should be reduced by vertical expandable prosthetic titanium ribs (VEPTR) since titanium rods, scar tissue and ossifications increase stiffness of the rib cage. The effect of VEPTR on thoracic compliance has not yet been elucidated. The impact of VEPTR on the development of sagittal balance has not been fully investigated. PATIENTS A...

Materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed 16 paediatric patients affected by kyphotic spinal deformity (T3-T12 kyphosys > 60°) surgically treated with Growing Rod or VEPTR-like systems from 2006 to 2011. There were 8 males and 8 females, with a mean age of 7 years (range, 4 to 11). The aetiology was: idiopathic scoliosis (5 cases), kyphosis in Morquio disease (1) and in Pott disease (1)...

Aim  To present a new therapy for Poland syndrome (PS) using a novel surgical approach: the vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib (VEPTR) system. Methods  The VEPTR system rib-to-rib variant was used to enhance the chest wall and vertebral column support in a young patient before walking age. Case Report  We present a 12-month-old infant diagnosed with left-sided PS at the age of 6 months...

STUDY DESIGN Retrospective review of patients from a multicenter database. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the nutritional status of children with thoracic insufficiency syndrome (TIS) and to determine if treatment with vertical expandable prosthetic titanium ribs (VEPTR) leads to improvements in weight percentile. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Children with pulmonary insufficiency characteristically ha...

INTRODUCTION Distraction-based spinal growth modulation by growing rods or vertical expandable prosthetic titanium ribs (VEPTRs) is the mainstay of instrumented operative strategies to correct early onset spinal deformities. In order to objectify the benefits, it has become common sense to measure the gain in spine height by assessing T1-S1 distance on anteroposterior (AP) radiographs. However,...

The Synthes Spine Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rib (VEPTR) allows new growth sparing surgical procedures for treatment of spine deformity in early childhood. The prime FDA indication for its use is the presence of thoracic insufficiency syndrome [1], which is the inability of the thorax to support normal respiration or lung growth. This syndrome is most often due to three-dimensional...

Materilas and methods Age of onset was in between 4th and 36th month of life. Initial treatment consisted of physiotherapy and Chenau corrective bracing in all patients. Duration of conservative treatment was from 4 to 5.5 years. The age at surgery was: from 7 to 12 years (table 1). Finally patients underwent surgical treatment: anterior and posterior fusion in 2 patients (3 curves), posterior ...