The case presented in this blog is an adolescent male, who is an active athlete and having back pain. It is easy to see the scoliosis in the upper part of the spine. The below picture demonstrates the impact of scoliosis on the shoulder and neck alignment. Due to the scoliosis which tips the head […]
Category: Congenital Scoliosis
Congenital Spine Dislocation with 8 Years of Postoperative Follow-up
Congenital dislocation of the spine (CDS) is a rare congenital malformation due to failure of the spine and the spinal cord to develop at a single spinal level. The patient may be completely neurologically intact or, in severe cases, may not have any muscle function or sensation below the level of the dislocation. It is […]
Congenital Spine Dislocation
Congenital dislocation of the spine (CDS) is a rare congenital malformation due to failure of the spine and the spinal cord to develop at a single spinal level. The patient may be completely neurologically intact or, in severe cases, may not have any muscle function or sensation below the level of the dislocation. It is […]
Severe, complex congenital scoliosis cases using Shilla procedures
Over the last 6 Blog posts congenital scoliosis has been exhaustively presented and explained. Most cases of congenital scoliosis are mild and do not require surgery. Of those that do need surgery there are several well-accepted techniques for improvement and control of the scoliosis: distraction constructs (traditional growing rods, magnetically-controlled growing rods, VEPTR), resection with […]
Surgical Treatment of Congenital Scoliosis
As previously mentioned congenital scoliosis comes in a wide range of types, locations, and complexity. This means surgeons caring for this group of patients needs to have multiple surgical treatment options to optimally care for this potentially challenging deformities, from simple hemivertebra resections to complex vertebral column resections and Shilla constructs. The below three cases […]
Surgical Treatment of Congenital Scoliosis
When is surgery necessary? This is not a simple answer, mainly because there is a wide spectrum of deformities, from number of areas involved, type of problems, location, magnitude, progression, and age of patient, to name a few of the considerations. Each patient is unique, so the decision of when surgery is a reasonable […]
Congenital Scoliosis #4
1. How much will the congenital scoliosis change with growth? a. Plain radiographs and MRI may be able to predict spinal growth and the chance of developing a spinal deformity or its speed of progression (worsening) in some patients. This is more likely if there is a single area of abnormal vertebral development. If […]
Congenital Scoliosis #3
Why is congenital scoliosis different than idiopathic, syndromic, neuromuscular? As presented 2 blogs ago, congenital scoliosis is the group of spinal deformity in children that is due to the vertebra being abnormally developed. The other three diagnostic categories usually have normal vertebra development, for the most part. So, in the other three the growth of […]
Congenital Scoliosis #2
Frequently-Asked Questions about congenital scoliosis 1. Why does it happen? Unfortunately we don’t know 2. When does it happen? In utero when the fetus is very, very small and is very early in its development. 3. What other problems can be associated with congenital scoliosis? There are three other organ systems which have high abnormality […]
Congenital Scoliosis #1
Scoliosis can be broadly broken down into one of 4 types: Idiopathic: meaning there is no known etiology Syndromic: connective tissue disorders (Marfan’s, Ehlers-Danlos), trisomy 21, Prader-Willi, Retts syndrome, Beale’s syndrome, muscular dystrophies (e.g. Duchenne’s), osteochondrodystrophy (dwarfism), neurofibromatosis, Noonan syndrome, VATER/VACTERL, Angelman, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Neuromuscular: such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophies (e.g. […]
New publication on congenital scoliosis
What organ systems are affected by Early-Onset Scoliosis (EOS)?
Scoliosis, at any age, causes distortion of the body from the neck to the waistline. Though on the x-rays (or radiographs) that are obtained to evaluate for scoliosis the spine only appears to curve in a lateral direction, however it actually has become deformed in three dimensions (front, side and axial). The front view is […]