Gianna was 8 years old when she was diagnosed with dystonia, a movement disorder in which signals from the brain become out of sync, causing involuntary muscle contractions. Symptoms include uncontrollable twisting, repetitive movements, and abnormal and painful postures.
Gianna's severe dystonia didn't respond to traditional treatments. By the time she was 12, her condition had worsened to the point that she could no longer walk. That's when Michael Kruer, MD, director of the Movement Disorders Program at Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's, told Gianna and her family about a revolutionary treatment for severe dystonia: deep brain stimulation.
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