Bresler/Keller

Treated: a 4-year-old California boy with VATER syndrome, a condition resulting in fused ribs, which caused a bump on his chest and a spinal curvature that leaves his head tilted and his back shaped like a question mark. Also: a 19-year-old California woman with Tourette's syndrome, which causes physical and verbal tics that make ordinary interactions difficult. The procedure planned for her is electrical stimulation of her brain, while a titanium rod is implanted in the boy's ribs.