Also known as: Bamboo spine
Jeffrey is a 29-year-old man whose ankylosing spondylitis caused his spine to fuse into severe contortion, leaving him wheelchair-bound and bedridden since age 22. He undergoes complex spinal reconstruction surgery to straighten his spine and regain mobility.
Also known as: Funnel chest
Jeffrey's congenital chest wall deformity becomes a critical complication during his spinal surgery when straightening his spine causes his breastbone to compress his vena cava, leading to acute heart failure. Surgical correction of the pectus excavatum saves his life.
Also known as: Pelvic tumor
Dannie, a woman in a vegetative state for 12 years, has a malignant paraganglioma near her spine. When the tumor ruptures during surgery, it releases massive amounts of dopamine that temporarily awakens her from her coma, allowing her to make end-of-life decisions before the dopamine wears off.
Also known as: Coma
Dannie has been in a vegetative state for 12 years following a ruptured brain aneurysm. She temporarily awakens due to dopamine release from her paraganglioma, but returns to a comatose state and chooses to sign a DNR rather than return to life support.
During Jeffrey's spinal straightening surgery, his anatomically adapted vena cava becomes compressed between his newly positioned spine and sternum, blocking blood return to his heart and causing acute cardiac failure requiring emergency intervention.
Also known as: CSF leak
During Dannie's paraganglioma resection, the tumor capsule ruptures and tears the spinal dura, causing a CSF leak that requires fascia graft repair.