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Eighteen months of constant, stabbing back pain.
That’s what Jesse Weiss remembers most about his 12th and 13th years of life. The Polk City, Iowa, youngster visited doctors and took the prescribed pain medications, but the problem persisted. X-rays revealed a spinal curvature but the curvature alone didn’t explain the pain.
“If the medications wore off, his pain would go out of control and he would hyperventilate,” says his mother, Tracee.
Jesse’s family medicine physician, Stephen Nowak, MD, of Ankeny, referred him to orthopaedic specialist Jeffrey Farber, MD, of Des Moines. Because of the extreme complexity of the case, Farber decided to refer Jesse to Stuart Weinstein, MD, who specializes in pediatric orthopaedics and spinal deformities at University of Iowa Children's Hospital, located at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Farber has a special relationship with Weinstein, who was a faculty mentor during Farber’s student years at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. “He was my inspiration and reason I chose orthopaedics as my specialty,” Farber says.
Consistent with previous imaging attempts, MRI scans revealed nothing unusual. But then a second look using computed tomography (CT) identified the culprit. Jesse had a nonmalignant osteoblastoma—a non-cancerous tumor—resting in an unusual place inside his vertebrae. Jesse’s tumor behaved like a pearl inside a clam, growing a hard shell as it rotated inside the vertebrae, causing the pain.
The Weiss family was both shocked by the diagnosis and relieved to finally know what was going on. Surgery was initially postponed until summer, but the timetable changed when Jesse experienced unbearable pain just before winter break.
“The schedule was already full but then they had an opening and asked if we could come in the next day,” Tracee says. “It all happened just like that!”
During the complex, four-hour procedure, Weinstein used a small piece of Jesse’s upper left rib to fill the vacant space created by the tumor. Since then, Jesse has fully recovered and is back to living a normal life.
“It’s like a miracle,” Tracee says. “It couldn’t have turned out better.”
For more information about spinal problems in children:
For consultation or referral, physicians should call UI Consult.
--Michael Sondergard |
Jesse’s tumor behaved like a pearl inside a clam, growing a hard shell as it rotated inside the vertebrae, causing the pain.
Stuart Weinstein, M.D. gives Jeston Weiss an inside look at his surgically repaired vertebrae.
Teen-ager’s unexplained back pain finally resolved by specialists at University of Iowa Children's Hospital
UI Neurosciences |
