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There was a major announcement in Salt Lake today before more than 1,000 doctors and researchers from around the world.
A Utah-based company has developed a predictive genetic test for the crippling disease scoliosis. For the Scoliosis Research Society, which is meeting in Salt Lake, this is a significant breakthrough.
An innovative surgery straightens a Midvale man's crooked spine. A 9-year-old boy gets a special titanium rib to keep him walking straight. Scoliosis in its severe forms not only cripples, it can shorten the victim's life.
For Kathy Wilcox, that was her fate had she not had surgery.
"It was starting to squish my lungs because my lungs were starting to collapse. So it was squishing my lungs and my heart and starting to cut it off," she explained.
Kathy's mom, three sisters, along with nieces and nephews all were born with scoliosis. That's why Kathy, along with members of other Utah families, helped Utah-based Axial Biotech develop the first genetic test for the disease.
This means doctors now have a predictive portrait of who's at high or low risk for developing a severe curvature of the spine and they, along with parents, know that when the children between 9 and 13 years old are diagnosed.
Dr. John Ward, chief scientific officer for Axial Biotech, said, "Within two weeks of that first visit, the patient and their parents will get a glimpse into what the future is likely to hold, and a glimpse that was impossible in the past."
The company's chief medical consultant, Dr. Jim Ogilvie, said, "Identify those people who will have predictably bad outcomes, and those are the people who would be candidates for innovative treatments now and in the future."
Follow-ups, along with early care and treatments, go to high-risk patients, while low-risk patients require little or no intervention at all. This is not a crystal ball but an actual map that comes very early in the game.
Kathy Wilcox said, "To me it's huge. I think about my little grandkids, hoping they won't have to go through what I went through."
The scoliosis test will be available in this country within the year and nationwide after that. As part of a pilot project, some patients will be tested beginning next month.
E-mail: eyeates@ksl.com
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