Scoliosis Surgery in a Patient With Advanced Friedreich's Ataxia—It Is Not Too Late
Friedreich's ataxia is a multisystem disorder with scoliosis being the most common non-neurological manifestation. While scoliosis surgery is typically performed in adolescent, ambulatory patients, few data exist on surgical outcomes in patients with advanced disease. We present a 38-year-old woman with late-stage Friedreich's ataxia and pronounced thoracolumbar scoliosis (Cobb angle 48°) causing severe pain and limited sitting tolerance. After posterior corrective spondylodesis (T4-ilium), she reported marked improvements in pain, sitting tolerance, function, and quality of life in the SF-36 questionnaire. This case highlights the potential for substantial clinical and functional benefits from scoliosis surgery in patients with advanced Friedreich's ataxia.
Authors
- Stella A. Glasmacher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1165-9153)
- Maximilian Praster (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6346-0253)
- Imis Dogan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6632-197X)
- Simon Bodo Eickhoff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6363-2759)
- Nikolaus Marx (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6141-634X)
- R.-D Hilgers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5945-1119)
- Sandro Romanzetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8519-1309)
- Jörg B. Schulz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8903-0593)
- Vera Jankowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6416-0230)
- Ravi Dadsena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7387-0750)
- Kathrin Reetz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9730-9228)
- Kerstin Konrad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9039-2615)
- Juergen Dukart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0492-5644)
- Malte Jacobsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0780-0003)
- Thomas Clavel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7229-5595)
- Miguel Pishnamaz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1903-0202)
- Oliver Pabst (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0794-2001)
- Katharina Marx‐Schütt
- Julia Moellmann
- Joachim Jankowski
Institutions
- Universitätsklinikum Aachen (DE)
- Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (DE)
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- RWTH Aachen University (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology
- Published
- 2025-10-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.70219
- Primary Topic
- Genetic Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- RWTH Aachen University