Vertebral, rib, and intraspinal anomalies in congenital scoliosis: a study on 202 Caucasians

Abstract

The incidences of rib and intraspinal anomalies were 57.4 and 21.8 % in surgical Caucasians with congenital scoliosis, respectively. Unlike vertebral and intraspinal anomalies, rib and intraspinal anomalies were significantly associated. Male gender and intraspinal anomaly were associated with some previously suggested risk factors of curve progression.

Orientation of the facet joints in degenerative rotatory lumbar scoliosis: an MR study on 52 patients

“…The mean major Cobb angle was 19.22 ± 3.54°(range, [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. The maximum vertebral rotation was at L2-L3 in 4 The mean facet joint angles in case and control groups are shown in Fig.…”

“…Some studies have described such changes in association with unequal loadings on bilateral facet joints belonging to spinal segments affected by scoliotic changes [15,52]. Others, however, have raised a concern on this oversimplified cause-and-effect theory, because other types of scoliosis which are known as idiopathic or congenital [28] cannot be explained by degenerative initiators, but finally lead to degenerative consequences similar to those detectable in types primarily coined as degenerative. The condition and role of facet joints in this regard are variable and complex.…”

“…Unlike congenital [3,23,27] and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis [26], degenerative scoliosis develops in a skeletally mature spine [19]. The occurrence of this type of scoliosis increases with age; so degenerative scoliosis is expected to be a growing clinical problem due to the aging population [32,49].…”

Congenital Scoliosis

“…[16][17][18] Most large series report tethered cord, syrinx, and diastematomyelia as the commonest intraspinal abnormalities. [16][17][18][19] Other intraspinal abnormalities include Arnold-Chiari malformation, intradural cysts and intradural lipomas. [16][17][18][19] External stigmata of intraspinal anomalies are not invariably present.…”

“…Rib abnormalities are found in 19.2 to 57.4%. 19,20 The majority have structural rib changes as compared to a variation in number (absence of ribs). 21 Fused ribs are the commonest structural anomaly (60.4%) followed by bifid ribs combined with fused ribs (24.5%) and pure bifid ribs (9.4%).…”