Child With SMA Dismissed as ‘Lazy Baby’ Now Thriving on Spinraza

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by Wendy Henderson |

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According to the Daily Mail, Lexi Pacini from Colorado has made incredible progress while using Spinraza.

Lexi’s parents felt something was amiss with their little girl when she failed to meet the same development milestones her older sister had. At 11 months old, Lexi still hadn’t learned to crawl so they took her to see their doctor. The doctor referred Lexi to a physiotherapist who initially said Lexi was just a “lazy baby.” At two years old, Lexi still couldn’t walk, stand, sit on her own or crawl so they demanded more tests. Six months later, they took her to the Children’s Colorado hospital where specialists finally discovered what was wrong and diagnosed Lexi with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 2.

Find out how Spinraza works in treating SMA patients. 

Although there was no cure fo the disease, Lexi was eligible for a clinical trial for a new drug, Spinraza. It was while she was on the trial that her family saw a marked improvement in her condition. From not being able to walk and only being able to stand on her own for a few seconds, Lexi was able to walk 20 steps on her own after six months.

After 18 months on the drug, four-year-old Lexi can now walk on her own using either a stick or walker and do some limited climbing. Lexi has even enrolled in the same dance class as her older sister where she joins in using her walker.

Find out more about the SMA treatment Spinraza.

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