John H. Moe

The selection of fusion levels in thoracic idiopathic scoliosis.

From the material and data reviewed in our study of 405 patients, it appears that postoperative correction of the thoracic spine approximately equals the correction noted on preoperative side-bending roentgenograms. Selective thoracic fusion can be safely performed on a Type-II curve of less than 80 degrees, but care must be taken to use the vertebra that is neutral and stable so that the lower level of the fusion is centered over the sacrum. The lumbar curve spontaneously corrects to balance the thoracic curve when selective thoracic fusion is performed and the lower level of fusion is properly selected. In Type-III, IV, and V thoracic curves the lower level of fusion should be centered over the sacrum to achieve a balanced, stable spine.

A Study of Vertebral Rotation

The problem of roentgenographic evaluations of vertebral rotations has been studied using upper thoracic, thoracic, and lumbar segments of a normal spine which were marked with wires and which then had roentgenograms made in known increments of rotation. The results showed a definite difference between a grading system based upon the position of the spinous process and a system based on the position of the pedicle located on the convex side of the curve. The pedicle technique proved to have definite merit in its case of application over a wide range of rotation and its over-all consistecy of values evens when applied to the scoliotic spine. As an additional part of the study, the approximate range of degrees of rotation represented by each grade of rotation was determined. Finally, by combining the two parts of this study, we were able to propose a simplified method of describing vertebral rotation, which correlates the amount or percentage of convex pedicle displacement seen on roentgenograms with the approximate degrees of rotation present in that vertebra.

Management of severe spondylolisthesis in children and adolescents.

Forty-three patients with a fifth lumbar-first sacral spondylolisthesis of 50 per cent or greater were reviewed. Four had been treated non-operatively; eleven, by arthrodesis; eighteen, by decompression and arthrodesis; and ten, by reduction and arthrodesis. The angle of slipping (measurement of the kyphotic relationship of the fifth lumbar to the first sacral vertebra) was found to be as important a measurement as the percentage of slipping in measuring instability and progression of slipping. Hamstring tightness did not correlate with neural deficit. Arthrodesis alone, even in the presence of minor neural deficits, tight hamstrings, or both, gave relief of pain and resolution of neural deficits and tight hamstrings. Our experience with a limited number of patients suggests that management by postoperative extension casts may achieve a significant reduction in percentage of slipping and in angle of slipping. Progression of the spondylolisthesis may occur following a solid arthrodesis.

Congenital Scoliosis A Study of 234 Patients Treated and Untreated

Congenital anomalies of the spine producing scoliosis are frequently associated with other anomalies. The scoliosis is usually slowly but relentlessly progressive and an unacceptable deformity results if active treatment is not given. Except for the unsegmented unilateral bar, the specific anomaly present was of less prognostic value than the pattern of the curve and the area of the spine involved.

Harrington instrumentation without fusion plus external orthotic support for the treatment of difficult curvature problems in young children.

In selected patients a method of rod insertion without fusion combined with use of a full-time external orthotic support, e.g., the Milwaukee brace, is effective. The orthopedic surgeon confronted with young children who have curves that do not respond to conservative treatment alone or in which bracing is contraindicated should find this procedure particularly suitable. The method allows for the expression of full growth potential while maintaining curve correction.

Treatment of idiopathic scoliosis in the Milwaukee brace.

The results of treatment of idiopathic scoliosis with a Milwaukee brace were studied in 133 patients (127 girls and six boys) whose ages ranged from eight years and five months to sixteen years and two months at the beginning of treatment. These 133 patients had 192 separate curves (119 right thoracic, thirty-nine high lumbar, twelve thoracolumbar, and twenty-two high left thoracic). Of these patients, seventy-four with 109 curves were followed for five years or more after the brace was discontinued (average, eight years; range, five to thirteen years); twenty-nine patients were treated surgically because of a poor response to the brace or progression of the curve; and thirty patients were lost to follow-up. More than 80 per cent of the seventy-four patients followed for five years or more showed some increase of their curves after the brace was discontinued. The average correction at follow-up compared with the original curve was 2 degrees for thoracic curves (range, -18 to 24 degrees) and 4 degrees for the thoracolumbar and lumbar curves (range, -11 to 17 degrees). The brace was more effective for curves of less than 40 degrees. More than one-third of the patients with curves of 40 degrees or more eventually required surgical treatment. Age, curve pattern, and status of the iliac and ring epiphyses did not correlate withe response to brace treatment. The best guideline for prediction of the results of brace treatment was the response of the curve to the brace, especially during the first year of treatment. If the curve is reduced in the brace to less than 50 per cent of its initial measurement, there is a good chance of obtaining significant permanent correction.

Posterior spinal arthrodesis for congenital scoliosis. An analysis of the cases of two hundred and ninety patients, five to nineteen years old.

We analyzed the results of posterior arthrodesis of the spine for congenital scoliosis, with or without Harrington instrumentation, in 290 of 323 patients who were operated on between the ages of five and nineteen years and were followed for two years or more. The length of follow-up averaged six years and ranged from two to twenty-eight years. The average curve before surgery was 55 degrees (range, 13 to 155 degrees), the average curve at correction was 38 degrees (range, 5 to 102 degrees), and the average curve at final follow-up was 44 degrees (range, 5 to 103 degrees). Bending of the fusion mass of more than 10 degrees was seen in forty patients; pseudarthrosis, in twenty; and adding-on of vertebrae with an increase in the curve of more than 10 degrees, in seven patients. There were four deaths, only one of them in the last twenty-five years. One was due to intraoperative cardiac arrest; one, to intraoperative overtransfusion; one, to postoperative overtransfusion; and one, to gastrointestinal bleeding eight months postoperatively while the patient was in a Risser jacket. Two patients became paraplegic due to excessive distraction with the Harrington rod, and two others had a partial cranial-nerve lesion due to halo traction. Based on these results, we concluded that posterior arthrodesis of the spine is satisfactory for most patients with congenital scoliosis. The most common problem was bending of the fusion mass in growing children, which occurred in 14 per cent of the patients. Use of Harrington instruments allowed slightly better correction (36 per cent compared with 28 per cent) but was associated with the only cases of paraplegia and infection in the series.

Surgical treatment of adult scoliosis. A review of two hundred and twenty-two cases.

We evaluated the cases of 222 patients older than twenty years in whom scoliosis was the primary diagnosis. No patient had had prior surgical treatment. The diagnoses were idiopathic scoliosis in 160 patients, paralytic scoliosis in forty-four, and congenital scoliosis in eleven, and there were miscellaneous diagnoses in seven patients. The average age of the patients when first seen was 30.7 years. The indications for operation were pain, progression of the curve, magnitude of the curve, and cardiopulmonary symptoms. Preoperative traction, including halo-femoral traction, did not result in increased correction when compared with the initial supine side-bending roentgenogram. A one-stage fusion was performed in 174 patients and multiple-stage procedures, in forty-eight patients. At an average follow-up of 3.6 years the average loss of correction was 6.2 degrees, 68 per cent of the patients were free of pain, and a solid fusion had been obtained in all but six patients. Complications developed in 53 per cent of the patients, the most common problems being pseudarthrosis, urinary tract infection, wound infection, instrumentation problems, a pulmonary disorder, and loss of lumbar lordosis. Paraplegia occurred in one patient. The over-all mortality rate was 1.4 per cent. Complications increased with age, and the highest mortality rate was in patients with congenital scoliosis who had cor pulmonale.

Scheuermann's Kyphosis and Roundback Deformity: Results Of Milwaukee Brace Treatment

Review of 223 patients with Scheuermanns kyphosis and postural roundback showed that seventy-five patients with this deformity who had completed Milwaukee brace treatment had their kyphosis improved by an average of 40 per cent; their vertebral wedging, by an average of 41 per cent; and their lordosis, by an average of 36 per cent. Severity of kyphosis (greater than 65 degrees), skeletal maturity (as shown by iliac epiphysis closure), and vertebral wedging averaging more than 10 degrees were factors which limited the amount of correction obtained with the Milwaukee brace. The presence of scoliosis did not affect the end result.

Spine deformity in neurofibromatosis. A review of one hundred and two patients.

The natural history, associated anomalies, and response to operative and nonoperative treatment were reviewed in 102 patients with neurofibromatosis and spine deformity. Eighty patients were found to have curvatures associated with dystrophic changes in the vertebrae and ribs. The presence of dystrophic changes such as rib penciling, spindling of the transverse processes, vertebral scalloping, severe apical vertebral rotation, foraminal enlargement, and adjacent soft-tissue neurofibromas was found to be highly significant in prognosis and management. Brace treatment of dystrophic curves was unsuccessful. Posterior fusion, with or without internal fixation, was the procedure of choice for problems due purely to scoliosis. Patients with dystrophic kyphoscoliosis required both anterior and posterior fusion to achieve stability. Sixteen patients had compression of the spinal cord or cauda equina.