“Ever since 2010, we at Isico have been using Thermobrace, a heat sensor that is applied to the brace in order to establish how much it is actually being worn. We see this as a way of fostering a better doctor-patient relationship, as well as a means of collecting real-life data that can be used to optimise the use of the brace”

explains Dr Sabrina Donzelli, Isico physiatrist and author of a study entitled “In defense of adolescents: They really do use braces for the hours prescribed, if good help is provided. Results from a prospective everyday clinic cohort using thermobrace”, published in the journal Scoliosis. “Our implementation of this heat sensor, which is the most suitable of those currently available on the market, has been a gradual process” she says. “Initially, we applied it to the braces of just a handful of patients, precisely because until recently literature opinion on the use of this kind of instrument was divided. We have actually found that it helps to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, as it allows us to make therapeutic choices on the basis of real-life data obtained from the sensor, and these data can thus be used to optimise the use of the brace”.

The most surprising finding was that the patients who have the highest number of prescribed brace-wearing hours were the ones who showed the best compliance with the treatment. It emerged that 45% of the patients used the brace for the number of hours prescribed, or for just an hour less,  while 55% claimed to be wearing the brace for a number of hours that was very close to the actual number (a difference of 1 hour at most), and 60% showed 90% compliance.

Patients and parents tend to overestimate compliance, hence the reason for developing an objective assessment based on the use of heat sensors.

Whereas the authors of other studies set out only to verify actual compliance with the prescribed number of brace-wearing hours, our aim was to test the sensor as a tool for improving clinical practice. Accordingly, we have never used the sensor without a patient’s knowledge. We do not see Thermobrace as a means of “checking up” on patients, but rather as a tool for collecting real-life data that can be used to optimise treatments.

Indeed, these sensors enable doctors to be more precise as they endeavour to make the best clinical decisions. Along with brace quality and some disease factors, compliance is a key element in the efficacy of brace treatment: “In patients known to comply reliably with the treatment, we should be able to get a much more accurate idea of the true effectiveness of braces” added Dr Donzelli.

From 14 to 16 June, Michele Romano, our director of physical therapy, held a SEAS I course in Novi Sad. The event was our first in Serbia and it attracted over 20 participants, coming not only from Serbia, but also from Croatia, Israel, the Netherlands, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

Novi Sad was also the venue, on 29 June, for the ScoSym International Symposium on “Current Trends in Research on Scoliosis and Other Spinal Deformities”, where Romano was an invited speaker and gave a talk on the topic of sport and scoliosis.

Finally, at the end of July, Romano will be on the move again, flying to China to lead the last SEAS courses before the summer break. These will be held in Shanghai and Zhenzhou.

Isico will be at the forthcoming ISSLS Annual Meeting in Kyoto (June 3 to 7), a training event of the highest scientific and cultural level aimed at those dealing with spinal disorders. 

Founded in 1974, the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to bring together those individuals, throughout the world, who, by their contributions and activities both in the area of research and clinical study, have, or are developing, an interest in the lumbar spine in health and in disease.

With just 260 members worldwide, it is an exclusive society in which Isico is represented by Prof. Stefano Negrini as a member since 1997 and Dr Fabio Zaina since 2010. These two specialists will present different studies in Kyoto: Prof. Negrini will be giving an oral presentation (Identification through movement analysis of chronic low back pain pathological spinal movement patterns and their sensitivity to change during exercise treatment) and presenting a poster, and Dr Zaina will also be giving a poster presentation. In addition, both appear as co-authors of other posters being presented at the event.

Alessia Mancini, 17,  a patient at our centre since she was just 10 years old, has become the star  of a brief video recounting her exciting and remarkable journey. Although the video last only a few minutes, this is long enough to convey the  heartwarming story of this young patient, a dancer who loves nothing more than dancing en pointe!

Despite the uphill battle she faced, Alessia, her head full of dreams and fortunate enough to be able to draw on great strength of character, proved equal to the challenge. Now, through a collaboration with a young director, Riccardo, and a young director of photography and video operator, Sophia, a video has been made telling Alessia’s inspiring story.

“It all began years ago, when my parents noticed that my back, which had three scoliotic curves, the worst one measuring 40 degrees, was getting worse” Alessia begins. “We consulted Isico, where I was prescribed a brace, to be worn for 23 hours a day”.

For Alessia, who was already passionate about dancing, it was like being told to wear a suit of armour.  

“I love dancing” Alessia goes on, “and in fact I hope to dance professionally. In the end, I can say that I have been helped, in my pursuit of this ambition, both by my dancing and by my treatment, which came to an end a month ago, when I was finally told I could leave the brace off for good”.

For Alessia, living day in day out with her brace has been like living constantly in the company of both a friend and an unwelcome companion, an experience that she first recounted a few years ago when she entered, and won, the “Concorsetto”, a national competition organised  by Isico and open to our brace-wearing patients.

“I have always felt best able to express myself through art” Alessia tells us. “It was wonderful to be invited by Sophia and Riccardo to make this video about my story, and the important part that dance has played in it. Working with them was a fantastic experience. They are both wonderful artists who really managed to bring out my qualities, both as a dancer and as a person. In this way, they helped me to connect with the audience, and I hope I may serve as an example for the many others that find themselves in a similar position”.

The director. Riccardo, 22, from Naples. “I study directing and screenwriting at the national film academy in Bologna and I directed this video” Riccardo says. “I was struck by Alessia’s story and by what a strong person she is. Thanks to her outstanding qualities, it proved easy to create a story that conveyed, through music, dance and expressions, the many challenges this girl has overcome. All this has been a new experience for me, different and very stimulating”.

Riccardo’s meeting with Alessia came about thanks to Sophia, 23, a young mother and photographer: “I was fascinated  by the idea of  taking true stories, like Alessia’s, and bringing them to life through cinema. Late one Sunday night — it was midnight —, I called Alessia and Riccardo and told them that I had decided that, rather than doing the planned photoshoot, two days later we would instead be filming a video. I had realised that simple photos were not enough. I wanted to recreate Alessia’s seven-year experience through a full range of audiovisual stimuli.

Even though it was all a race against time, both Riccardo and Alessia did an absolutely wonderful job, giving it their very best” .

Thank you so much, Alessia, for sharing your story, and Riccardo and Sophia for making such a beautiful video!