Stuart L. Weinstein

Curve progression in idiopathic scoliosis.

One hundred and thirty-three curves in 102 patients who were followed for an average of 40.5 years were evaluated to quantitate curve progression after skeletal maturity and for prognostic factors leading to curve progression. Sixty-eight per cent of the curves progressed after skeletal maturity. In general, curves that were less than 30 degrees at skeletal maturity tended not to progress regardless of curve pattern. In thoracic curves the Cobb angle, apical vertebral rotation, and the Mehta angle were important prognostic factors. In lumbar curves the degree of apical vertebral rotation, the Cobb angle, the direction of the curve, and the relationship of the fifth lumbar vertebra to the intercrest line were of prognostic value. Translatory shifts played an important role in curve progression. Curves that measured between 50 and 75 degrees at skeletal maturity, particularly thoracic curves, progressed the most.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) affects 1-3% of children in the at-risk population of those aged 10-16 years. The aetiopathogensis of this disorder remains unknown, with misinformation about its natural history. Non-surgical treatments are aimed to reduce the number of operations by preventing curve progression. Although bracing and physiotherapy are common treatments in much of the world, their effectiveness has never been rigorously assessed. Technological advances have much improved the ability of surgeons to safely correct the deformity while maintaining sagittal and coronal balance. However, we do not have long-term results of these changing surgical treatments. Much has yet to be learned about the general health, quality of life, and self-image of both treated and untreated patients with AIS.

The natural history and long-term follow-up of Scheuermann kyphosis.

Sixty-seven patients who had a diagnosis of Scheuermann kyphosis and a mean angle of kyphosis of 71 degrees were evaluated after an average follow-up of thirty-two years (range, ten to forty-eight years) after the diagnosis. All sixty-seven patients completed a questionnaire; fifty-four had a physical examination and radiographs; fifty-two, pulmonary function testing; and forty-five, strength-testing of the trunk muscles. The results were compared with those in a control group of thirty-four subjects who were matched for age and sex. The patients who had Scheuermann kyphosis had more intense back pain, jobs that tended to have lower requirements for activity, less range of motion of extension of the trunk and less-strong extension of the trunk, and different localization of the pain. No significant differences between the patients and the control subjects were demonstrated for level of education, number of days absent from work because of low-back pain, extent that the pain interfered with activities of daily living, presence of numbness in the lower extremities, self-consciousness, self-esteem, social limitations, use of medication for back pain, or level of recreational activities. Also, the patients reported little preoccupation with their physical appearance. Normal or above-normal averages for pulmonary function were found in patients in whom the kyphosis was less than 100 degrees. Patients in whom the kyphosis was more than 100 degrees and the apex of the curve was in the first to eighth thoracic segments had restrictive lung disease. Five patients had an unexplained, mildly abnormal neurological examination. Mild scoliosis was common; spondylolisthesis was not observed.

Idiopathic scoliosis: long-term follow-up and prognosis in untreated patients.

Two hundred and nineteen patients with untreated adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who were seen at the University of Iowa between 1932 and 1948 were studied, and recent information was available on 194 of the patients. The mortality rate was 15 per cent. Backache was somewhat more common in these patients than in the general population, although it was never disabling. The backache was unrelated to the presence of osteoarthritic changes on roentgenograms. Many curves continued to progress slightly in adult life, particularly thoracic curves that had reached between 50 and 80 degrees at skeletal maturity. The lumbar components of combined curves between 50 and 74 degrees also tended to progress. Pulmonary function was affected only in patients with thoracic curves.

Effects of Bracing in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis

BACKGROUND The role of bracing in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who are at risk for curve progression and eventual surgery is controversial. METHODS We conducted a multicenter study that included patients with typical indications for bracing due to their age, skeletal immaturity, and degree of scoliosis. Both a randomized cohort and a preference cohort were enrolled. Of 242 patients included in the analysis, 116 were randomly assigned to bracing or observation, and 126 chose between bracing and observation. Patients in the bracing group were instructed to wear the brace at least 18 hours per day. The primary outcomes were curve progression to 50 degrees or more (treatment failure) and skeletal maturity without this degree of curve progression (treatment success). RESULTS The trial was stopped early owing to the efficacy of bracing. In an analysis that included both the randomized and preference cohorts, the rate of treatment success was 72% after bracing, as compared with 48% after observation (propensity-score-adjusted odds ratio for treatment success, 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08 to 3.46). In the intention-to-treat analysis, the rate of treatment success was 75% among patients randomly assigned to bracing, as compared with 42% among those randomly assigned to observation (odds ratio, 4.11; 95% CI, 1.85 to 9.16). There was a significant positive association between hours of brace wear and rate of treatment success (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Bracing significantly decreased the progression of high-risk curves to the threshold for surgery in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. The benefit increased with longer hours of brace wear. (Funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and others; BRAIST ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00448448.).

Long-term follow-up of slipped capital femoral epiphysis.

The data on 155 hips in 124 patients who had slipped capital femoral epiphysis were retrospectively reviewed at a mean follow-up of forty-one years after the onset of symptoms. The slips were classified, by the duration of symptoms, as acute, chronic, or acute on chronic. As determined by the head-shaft angle, 42 per cent of the slips were mild; 32 per cent, moderate; and 26 per cent, severe. Reduction was performed in thirty-nine hips, and realignment was done in sixty-five hips. Treatment of chronic slips included symptomatic only in 25 per cent of the hips, a spica cast in 30 per cent, pinning in 24 per cent, and osteotomy in 20 per cent. The Iowa hip-rating and the radiographic classification of degenerative joint disease were determined at follow-up; both worsened with increasing severity of the slip and when reduction or realignment had been done. Osteonecrosis (12 per cent) and chondrolysis (16 per cent) also were more common with increasing severity of the slip and when reduction or realignment had been performed; both led to a poor result. Deterioration over time was most marked with increasing severity of the slip. The natural history of the malunited slip is mild deterioration related to the severity of the slip and complications. Techniques of realignment are associated with a risk of appreciable complications and adversely affect the natural history of the disease. Regardless of the severity of the slip, pinning in situ provided the best long-term function and delay of degenerative arthritis, with a low risk of complications.

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis.

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis is a well known disorder of the hip in adolescents that is characterized by displacement of the capital femoral epiphysis from the metaphysis through the physis. The term slipped capital femoral epiphysis is a misnomer because the epiphysis is held in the acetabulum by the ligamentum teres, and thus it is actually the metaphysis that moves upward and outward while the epiphysis remains in the acetabulum. In most patients, there is an apparent varus relationship between the head and the neck, but occasionally the slip is into a valgus position, with the epiphysis displaced superiorly in relation to the neck106,109. In the vast majority of cases, the etiology is unknown. Although the condition may be associated with a known endocrine disorder71,77,129, with renal failure osteodystrophy74, or with previous radiation therapy75,77, this Instructional Course Lecture deals only with idiopathic slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Multiple theories have been proposed for the etiology of idiopathic slipped capital femoral epiphysis, and it is likely a result of both biomechanical and biochemical factors128. The combination of these factors results in a weakened physis with subsequent failure. Mechanical factors95 associated with the disorder are obesity62,72, increased femoral retroversion36,37,95, and increased physeal obliquity83. The vast majority of children with a slipped capital femoral epiphysis are obese, which increases the shear stress across the physis. Obesity is also associated with femoral retroversion, with anteversion averaging 10.6 degrees in adolescents with normal weight but only 0.40 degree in obese adolescents36. This femoral retroversion increases the stress across the physis95. Children with a slipped capital femoral epiphysis also have a more …

The Pediatric spine : principles and practice

Developmental Anatomy Biomechanics Imaging Techniques Patient Evaluation Congenital Abnormalities Developmental Abnormalities Traumatic Conditions Inflammatory and Infectious Conditions Neoplasms and Malformations Metabolic Diseases Neuromuscular Diseases Aesthetic Considerations Neurophysiology Techniques Surgical Approaches and Techniques Complications of Surgery Orthotics.

Natural history of congenital hip dislocation (CDH) and hip dysplasia.

For normal development of the hip joint to occur, there must be a delicate, genetically determined balance between growth of the acetabular and triradiate cartilages and a well-centered femoral head. This balance may be profoundly affected by the intrauterine environment. Without treatment, it is uncertain how many dysplastic, unstable hips will retain their dysplastic features throughout life. The natural history of untreated complete dislocation varies considerably and is affected by societal considerations. There may be little, if any, functional disability in many cases. Significant roentgenographic degenerative disease and poor clinical results, however, may develop in completely dislocated hips with well developed false acetabulae. In unilateral cases, ipsilateral knee deformity and pain may develop. Congenital subluxations have a particularly poor long-term outcome. A significant percentage of these patients have roentgenographic degenerative joint disease and clinical disability. The age of symptom onset and roentgenographic degenerative joint disease is related to the amount of subluxation and dysplasia. The natural history of acetabular dysplasia in the absence of subluxation is difficult to predict. Physical signs may be absent, and the diagnosis only established with symptom onset or as an incidental roentgenographic finding. While degenerative joint disease may ensue, current roentgenographic parameters are not predictive.

A long-term follow-up of Legg-calvé-perthes disease.

In an effort to define the impairment in hips affected by Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, we attempted to contact 112 patients whose disease had been diagnosed between 1920 and 1940. Data were available on thirty-five patients with thirty-seven affected hips. The average period of follow-up was 47.7 years. Statistically significant correlations were found between clinical outcome (as measured by the Iowa hip rating and by the incidence of arthroplasty) and Catterall head-at-risk signs, femoral head-size ratio, and age at onset of the disease. The measurements of deformity, both femoral and acetabular, and the congruity of the articular surfaces did not change significantly with time. The Catterall classification alone did not correlate well with the clinical outcome. Fifteen affected hips in fourteen patients had undergone hip arthroplasty because of pain and dysfunction. Eleven arthroplasties had been done in the fifth or sixth decade of life and four (three patients), in the third or fourth decade.