Idiopathic, adolescent, right thoracic scoliosis.
Scoliosis is defined as a lateral curvature of the spine.
The descriptors used while reporting a scoliotic curve are: etiology, age at presentation, curve direction and curve level.
This male patient started developing scoliosis at the age of 15 years.
Adolescent scoliosis refers to those patients presenting after the onset of puberty but before the completion of skeletal maturity, Most patients with idiopathic scoliosis present clinically during adolescence due to the rapid curve progression that occurs during accelerated growth.
F : M = 9 : 1.
The most frequent curve is the right thoracic curvature.
Scoliosis x rays are viewed as if from behind the patient (hence the left to right inversion is deliberate).
Hueter-Volkmann principle - Lateral wedge deformities occur in the vertebral bodies at the apex of the curve. These occur as a result of excessive compressive forces that impair the growth at the discovertebral junction on the concave side of the curvature.
Structural scoliosis - lateral curvature of the spine that does not demonstrate normal segmental mobility on lateral bending or distraction.
Major curve - largest curve in the scoliotic spine.
Primary curve - the first structural curve to appear.
Compensatory curve - develops above or below a structural curve to maintain body balance.
To measure the curve magnitude, the end vertebrae and the apex must be defined.
End vertebra - that in which the end plate is maximally tilted towards the concavity of the curve.
Apical vertebra - the most rotated vertebra in a curve; the most deviated vertebra from the vertical axis of the patient.
CURVE MEASUREMENT
Cobb-Lippman method: vertical angle between the perpendicular lines drawn tangential to the end plates of the end vertebrae.
Risser-Ferguson method: vertical angle between the lines drawn from the centre of the the end vertebrae and the apical vertebra.
Risser-Ferguson method: vertical angle between the lines drawn from the centre of the the end vertebrae and the apical vertebra.