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Predictability of thoracic curve correction appears to decrease with age
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Spontaneous correction of the thoracic curve was found to be a reflection thoracolumbar curve correction for adolescent thoracolumbar scoliosis; however, the predictability of curve correction decreased with a patient’s increasing age, according to recently published study findings.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study of 29 consecutive patients with idiopathic thoracolumbar scoliosis Lenke type 5 who were treated with anterior spinal fusion and instrumentation. The cohort was split into two factions: adolescent (13 patients) and adult (16 patients). A minimum of 2 years’ follow-up data were available for all patients included in the study.
The researchers used standing anteroposterior and lateral projections of the thoracolumbar spine during radiographic evaluation in order to determine Cobb angle, apical vertebral translation (AVT) and apical vertebral rotation (AVR).
After surgery, the thoracic and thoracolumbar Cobb angles improved significantly in both groups (P < .01), according to the researchers. The thoracic AVT did not improve throughout all patients, with significant improvement found only in the adolescent group (P < .01). However, the thoracolumbar AVR achieved statistically significant improvement throughout all groups, according to the researchers (P < .01).
The adolescent age group demonstrated a correlation between the relative percent correction of the thoracic curve and the relative percent correction of the thoracolumbar curve, but the correlation decreased with age, according to the researchers.
Age and relative percent correction of the thoracic curve were also found to be correlated. – by Robert Linnehan
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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