Unexpected Therapies for Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Offer New Hope

A local pool in the summer is teeming with kids. A 9-year-old does a cannonball into the shallow end. As she surfaces, a stab of pain shoots through her hip. As days pass, what seems like a straightforward bump takes a complicated turn. Dr. Edward Hsiao, an endocrinologist and Director of the UCSF Metabolic Bone Clinic at the University of California, describes how after discovering a new bone growth at the site of the pain and several rounds of major (and unsuccessful) interventions, the child is diagnosed with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. This extremely rare bone disorder has a devastating impact on a patient’s life. But thanks to unexpected areas of research, patients have new reasons to hope.