One-hour webinar, ‘Straightening the Growing Spine,” describes
bracing and surgery options for children with a spinal curvature
caused by a neuromuscular disorder A one-hour, MDA-sponsored
webinar features two physicians and the parent of a child with
spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) who has undergone bracing and
surgery for a spinal curvature, as well as questions and answers
from listeners. Below are highlights from the webinar. Curvature
of the spine is a common problem in children with neuromuscular
disorders, particularly in children with SMA, said Tom Crawford,
a child neurologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,
where he co-directs the MDA clinic. "The driving force for
scoliosis [a side-to-side curvature of the spine] in
neuromuscular disease is gravity," Crawford noted, adding that
children with SMA who are able to sit independently at some
point in their lives — generally children with type 2 SMA (SMA2)
— have a greater than 90 percent chance of developing scoliosis.
Children who are able to w