San Gabriel Valley : Woman Gets Surgery to Lengthen Limbs

A 22-year-old Hacienda Heights woman with a rare genetic defect underwent a pioneering surgical procedure Thursday at Pasadena’s St. Luke’s Medical Center to begin lengthening her limbs.

Ran Soo Kim, 3 feet 11 inches tall and born with a condition that left her with short limbs, dreams of being able to ride a roller coaster, drive a car that is not specially equipped and go for a long stroll without becoming exhausted, her physicians said.

Doctors, who along with the hospital donated their services, took a step toward making Kim’s dream a reality during Thursday’s five-hour surgery.

“She’s doing fine. She’ll be in a little bit of pain for a few days,” said Dr. Mauro Giordani, medical director of the California Center for Reconstructive Orthopedics at St. Luke’s who performed the operation to initially add five inches to Kim’s legs.

During the procedure, Giordani sliced through Kim’s lower leg bones and connected splints with computer-synchronized motors that will gradually stretch the bones apart, allowing new bone tissue to form in the gaps.

During the next three to five years, Giordani hopes to overcome Kim’s condition, known as achondroplastic dwarfism, by adding 11 inches to each leg and five to six inches to each arm. Next year, doctors will extend her thigh bones. Kim is the first person to be treated at the center, which opened last month.