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>> Thank you very much.

Can everyone hear me okay?
I really want to thank Ellen

and everyone
for inviting me here.

This is really an honor.
It's also an incredibly exciting

time to be here and be part of
the new Children's Hospital.

It is one thing that I really
look forward to, the ability

to interact with the colleagues
here, and be part of the

incredibly high quality of care
that I've seen delivered

even in my short
period of time here.

x*This morning I'm going to talk
a little bit about scoliosis,

and really focus on
the evaluation and treatment.

There will be certainly
plenty of time for questions.

And I wrote a couple
of learning objectives here.

One is to be able to identify
children's scoliosis

from clinical exam.
And I think probably most

people can do that already,
but I'll show a few examples

and we'll go through that.
Two, to understand the natural

history of idiopathic scoliosis,
so you know which ones you

really need to worry about,
and which ones you probably

don't need to worry about.
And then three, to know the

clinical findings that suggest
a diagnose other than scoliosis.

I think one of the things,
hopefully, you'll take away

is the idea that scoliosis
really is quite different.

So not all scoliosis
is the same.

x*There are a couple
of disclaimers.

This really is a discussion
to the orthopedic treatment

of scoliosis.
There are some therapy options

that people have talked about,
and I'll touch on that briefly.

But this is really sort of
our semi-skewed perspective

of scoliosis.
Really the emphasis at this

point is on the identification
of scoliosis, and a little bit

less on the treatment.
Although I'll show you some

of the treatment options
and some of the newer things

people are starting to do.
x*So this is the outline

of the talk.
It's not really as arduous

as this outline looks.
But we'll talk briefly about the

anatomy, the simplified version.
A little bit about etiology,

the physical exam,
the radiographic exam,

demographics,
non-surgical treatment,

surgical treatment
and then new ideas and new ways

we're treating this.
x*So I want to start with a case,

maybe not a typical case,
but it's a 7-year-old female

that presented to us
with a bump on her back.

People present a lot of
different ways and this is

what the x-rays showed.
She has a little bit of

scoliosis and you can see that
her head is offset just a little

bit, which probably is, what we
like to see is the head directly

over the pelvis.
But it's not, and I think that

may have been one of the things
that bothered her the most.

She, of course, is seven,
so she's a little bit young.

That's the lateral x-ray,
which shows a relatively normal

contour.
We'll get back to that case

and how we treated that patient.
x*So scoliosis, as probably

most of you know, is Greek
and it really means a lateral

curvature of the spine.
So really any curvature

of the spine would be considered
scoliosis, but we typically

don't define it
until it's at least 10 degrees.

As I tell a lot of patients,
if you lean to one side, you're

going to have a scoliosis.
x*And if you want to take

the really simplest approach
to anatomy, if you look at

the spine from the front,
it really should be straight,

unless there's some
particular issue.

But if you look at the spine
from the side or the lateral

view, you should have a curve.
And the curve is about

40 degrees in thoracic spine
and then it varies

down to a lumbar curve
that balances that out.

So overall, the head should be
over the sacrum.

x*Scoliosis classification
is fairly straightforward.

In general, there's two
broad types of scoliosis.

One is idiopathic,
which just means we don't know

what causes it, and I'll
talk about the possible causes.

And then there's a whole other
branch with a known etiology.

And probably the most important
thing, other than identifying

scoliosis, is being able
to fret out which one of those

is idiopathic and which one
has an underlying cause,

because if it has a cause, for
various reasons, we obviously

want to know about that.
x*So I'll just talk about some

of the non-idiopathic scoliosis.
Because idiopathic scoliosis

is the dominant form
of scoliosis, and

what we treat the most often.
I'll focus most of my talk

on that, but just to touch
on neuromuscular scoliosis.

It's important to realize,
as we just talked about,

not all scoliosis is idiopathic,
so it's always important

to search for etiology.
x*So every patient that

has scoliosis,
the first question I ask

is what's the underlying cause.
Nine out of ten times,

the underlying cause
is idiopathic.

But that one out of ten times
will be something else.

x*This is a patient with
neurofibromatosis, so they had

the classic cafe au lait spots.
And they tend to have

different kinds of curves.
So there are some clues

that will tell you that this
may not be idiopathic.

If you have a long,
sort of gradual curve,

a C-shaped curve,
a long S-shaped curve,

that is consistent with
the neuromuscular scoliosis.

x*If you have a very short,
sharp curve, that's also

not consistent with idiopathic
scoliosis.

And that can be very consistent
with the congenital scoliosis.

Now congenital scoliosis
is really something you're

born with and the bone
just forms abnormally.

And there's really two
broad categories

of this congenital scoliosis.
In orthopedics,

we like to keep it very simple.
It's either a failure

of formation
or failure of segmentation.

So you may have a situation
where you don't actually

segment like this bar
that's shown here.

So that area's not segmented.
Or you may have a failure

of formation, where the vertebra
has not formed completely.

So those are the two.
Over time, congenital scoliosis

can get worse
or it can stay the same.

So a child may be born
with a 30 degrees curve, and

that may stay the same forever,
or it may get worse.

So with congenital scoliosis,
we follow that over time.

If we see it getting worse,
then we consider treatment.

x*Probably the most important
thing to realize is about 30%

have underlying urogenical
problems, especially renal

issues or cardiac issues,
and those need to be evaluated.

And classically, we evaluate
them with a renal ultrasound

or a cardiac ultrasound.
So those are two of the most

common other forms.
But certainly children

with cerebral palsy
and other disorders

will have scoliosis as well.
x*The number one cause,

nine out of ten children
will have idiopathic scoliosis.

And the question is
why do they have that.

And we don't really know.
We don't even really know

why the vast majority of those
curves are right-sided curves.

Various different theories
have been brought forward.

Melatonin is one
that in the 1990s

had a fair amount of support.
If you take the pineal gland

out of chickens,
they would develop scoliosis.

Then you treat these chickens
with melatonin

and the scoliosis would go away.
And we looked at that in humans,

it was really much more complex.
Melatonin levels

would go up and down,
and it was hard to determine

if that was related to it.
It sort of fell out of favor,

and now it's starting
to get into favor again.

x*We know that children's
scoliosis have changes in the

equilibrium and proprioception,
and that may be related

to scoliosis.
And certainly some of these

have platelet abnormalities.
So we don't really know

what the cause is.
And I don't think there's

any reason to focus too much
at this point,

until we find the cause.
x*But there probably is

an underlying genetic etiology
or at least a predisposition.

We know that because in general
the chance of having scoliosis

goes up if you have
a family history of that.

So it's up to 11%
with a first-degree relative

and 1.4%
with a third-degree relative.

x*The scoliosis exam
is fairly straightforward.

These are actual pictures taken
from a fairly old textbook,

as you can see.
But in general,

you want to look at the patient.
It's important to be able

to look at their hips
and their shoulders,

because often that will be
their primary complaint.

So you want to make sure their
shoulders and hips are balanced.

But you can still have
a scoliosis that's balanced

and it can not be so obvious.
It really is amazing.

x*I remember a next door neighbor
who was 8 years old.

She had a fairly significant
scoliosis we ended up treating,

but when you would looked
at her, you wouldn't know,

because she had
a very balanced curve.

So hips and shoulders
are very important.

And it's important for
decision-making, but it's also

important to exam the spine
carefully.

x*And the easiest way to do that
is the Adams Forward Bend Test.

And that's where they have
their feet together, and

they slowly bend forward and
you really look for asymmetry.

It's termed a rib hump,
which is probably not a very

complimentary term.
But it's really fairly obvious,

and it's due to rotation
of the spine,

not a curve of the spine.
So in scoliosis, it's not just

a curve, but it's truly
3-dimensional through rotation.

As the ribs are rotated back,
and they bend forward,

it becomes obvious.
x*The one caveat to that is

somewhat the significant
leg length inequality

will almost always have either
a lumbar prominence,

or more likely a rib hump.
So it can be very deceiving

if you exam someone
with a leg length inequality.

So one of the important things
to do is to make sure that

you exam them, that they don't
have a leg length inequality.

And really the easiest way
to do that is just to examine

them standing up
with their knees extended

and look at their pelvis,
because you'll be able to tell

if there's a leg length
inequality greater than

a centimeter,
simply by looking at them.

Using a tape measure
is much more difficult

and much less accurate.
So make sure they don't have

leg length inequality.
x*Have them do

the Adams Forward Bend Test.
You'll screen out just about

everyone with curves
under 20 degrees with this test.

So it's unlikely to have a curve
that's greater than 20 degrees

that you won't identify
with this test.

x*The second thing is to always
exam them from the side.

Look at the lateral view,
because they may have

a kyphosis.
And a lot of people

have a kyphosis.
Here you can see a fairly

dramatic kyphosis.
And it's actually termed

a gibbous, if it's not
a gentle curve, but instead

it's a fairly dramatic curve.
It's a gibbous

and that's abnormal.
So a gentle curve is normal

and routine.
But a more significant curve

isn't, and that has to be
evaluated.

And interesting enough,
children with scoliosis,

idiopathic scoliosis,
actually tend to have

decreased kyphosis,
or a straighter back.

I will show examples of that
and why that's important.

x*If you see a scoliosis,
the next step then is to do a

fairly careful neurologic exam.
Because, again, the most

important thing to do,
obviously, is to identify

the scoliosis.
The second most important

thing to do is to rule out
other causes.

The best way to rule that out
is with a careful

neurologic exam.
x*Abnormal neurologic exam should

raise a red flag that this
is not idiopathic scoliosis,

or at least deserves
and needs further evaluation.

x*School screening
is a little bit controversial.

It fell very much in favor
on the east coast.

It's fallen very much
out of favor over the last

couple of years.
And I think that's in part

because school screenings
predicated on the idea that

if you find someone with
a scoliosis at early age,

you've got a reasonable way
to treat that patient

that is effective,
and is less of a burden

than other forms of treatment.
So in general, what that means

is you have to believe
and feel that bracing

is a reasonable option.
Many people no longer feel that

bracing is a reasonable option.
I'll talk about that

a little bit under treatment.
It's also not particularly

cost-effective to screen
hundreds and hundreds

of patients, so it's
gone in and out of favor.

I certainly think, personally,
that school screening is

a very reasonable thing to do,
and I actually believe in

bracing, but that is subject
to some controversy.

x*There are different ways
to do a school screening,

but if you use a scoliometer,
which is that little device

that shows you how much
of a trunk asymmetry there is,

what number, what degree you use
will depend

on your referral rate.
So in you've got a fairly high

cut off of seven
or eight degrees, you're going

to refer very few patients.
Unfortunately, you are more

likely to miss a few patients
that have scoliosis.

And just the opposite's true
if you use a fairly low number

as a cut off.
So in general, the number to

use, if you use a scoliometer,
is somewhere between five

and seven.
And I think most people use

about a six degree cut off
for when to refer patients

and when not to.
Some people have said this is

not a very valuable test.
The Adams Forward Bending Test

is not that accurate,
scoliometers

are not that useful.
But the truth is

it actually is fairly accurate.
It's got a sensitivity of about

85%, specificity of over 90%,
and that's from a study

that wanted to disprove
its usefulness.

So I think
it's a fairly useful exam.

x*If we see patients, we have
the luxury of having x-rays.

So we really, not that we don't
examine the patient, but we now

have a lot more information,
and it's very reasonable to get

an x-ray if you're concerned
about scoliosis.

How you get the x-ray
is important.

If you get an x-ray
with a patient standing

with a leg length inequality,
they may have a scoliosis

they wouldn't normally have.
So how you get the x-ray

is fairly important.
We typically get standing x-rays

assuming they don't have
a leg length inequality.

If they do, then we'll get
a sitting x-ray.

And if they are unable to stand
because they have got

other conditions or disorders,
then we can do supine x-ray.

We always include
a lateral x-ray.

And the reason we include
a lateral x-ray is because

we worry about kyphosis,
an abnormal kyphosis, which

occurs in about 10% of patients.
Spinal listhesis, which can

occur either independently
or associated with scoliosis,

occurs about 5% of the time.
And then you can get

a thoracic lordosis.
And that's actually very common

in idiopathic scoliosis.
So hypokyphosis

or lordosis or a flat back,
that's quite common.

And if it's very severe,
it can actually affect

pulmonary function.
x*If we get to the point where

we do treatment,
then we look at bending films,

and that gives us some idea
of the flexibility

of the curve.
How much it bends back

and forth.
x*For those that aren't familiar

with the Cobb angle,
this is what we use to determine

the degree of curve.
If you think too much

about this, it will give you
a little bit of a headache,

but this is not the only way
to describe a curve.

A sharp curve and a gentle curve
may get the same number

and be very different curves.
But this is how it's been

described, and I think it's
probably still the best way.

There are other things that
we use, but this is probably

a reasonable marker.
x*The Cobb angle, simply,

is taken from an x-ray.
And what you do is

you measure down
until you get the vertebra

that's the most tilted.
And once you find the vertebra

that's the most tilted,
in this case, it's the sixth

thoracic vertebra,
you draw a line that's parallel

to the disk
or to the end plate, and

just take that out laterally
or medially, and that's

this line right here.
Let's see if I can do this.

That's this line right there.
Then you do the same thing

here.
And where these two meet,

that angle is the Cobb angle.
Now sometimes where they meet

is so far off the x-ray, you
just have to make a right angle

for each and measure that angle.
But as basic trigonometry

tells you it's the same angle,
it's just that our x-rays

aren't wide enough to draw it
way out here.

Is that's all the Cobb angle is.
x*And it gives you a general idea

of what the curve is, and
if the curve is better

or it's getting worse.
People will come in and say

they've got a 15% curve,
which is really a degree curve,

but they all know
what that number is.

Patients all know
what that number is.

x*How you get the x-ray
is kind of interesting, because

we get a straight AP x-ray.
But we said that

curves aren't really bent,
they are actually rotated.

So if you really wanted
to get an accurate x-ray,

you'd have to get an x-ray with
the beam coming in at an angle,

and that's called
the Stagnera view,

and occasionally we'll do that.
And it's very interesting.

If get that x-ray,
you may take a 30-degree curve

and find out it's really
a 60-degree curve,

because now you're getting it
at its greatest deformity.

x*We look a lot at kyphosis.
As we said, idiopathic scoliosis

won't be kyphotic,
they won't have increased

round back or hump back.
They'll actually be straighter.

And in fact, as we'll show you,
if you see someone

that's got increased kyphosis
and a scoliosis,

that raises a red flag,
that you have to think

there's something else going on.
x*This is not idiopathic

scoliosis.
You can measure kyphosis,

exactly like you measure
the Cobb angle, and measure that

curve in an identical fashion.
Draw your lines

parallel to the end plates
and getting that angle.

It's a little bit hard to do
because of the soft tissue.

As you get up in the thoracic
spine, it's hard

to actually see the vertebra.
So you can measure

from the upper thoracic curve,
to the T-12, and if that

is greater than 40 degrees,
you start thinking

they have increased kyphosis.
Because that's hard to measure,

there's a test you can use
from T-5 to T-12.

And if that's over 32 degrees,
it's been shown--

If it's under 32 degrees,
it's not kyphosis.

If it's over 32 degrees,
then it's a pretty good

screening test that
something else may be going on.

So that's a reasonable
screening test to do

on a spinal x-ray.
x*It's also important to

look down at the lumbar spine,
to see if there's any slippage

or spondylolisthesis, and
those two tend to go together.

x*So again, this is kyphosis,
this is actually

one of our partners.
Kyphosis is very common,

a round back is not uncommon.
But when you see this

sharp curve or gibbous, then
that raises a greater concern.

Kyphosis in itself, though,
is not an issue.

Mark Spitz, for example,
won seven gold medals.

And they think it may be related
to the fact that he did have

kyphosis, and he had
a larger lung volume.

So kyphosis in itself that's not
painful, and not getting worse,

is not particularly a problem.
x*Interestingly enough, just the

opposite, the decreased kyphosis
can be an issue,

and can decrease lung volume
if it's severe.

x*We've discussed a little bit
about this not just being

a lateral curvature,
but also a rotation.

And there are some ways you
can estimate how much rotation

just by looking at the x-ray.
One way is to look at

the pedicles.
So if you look at the x-rays,

you can see the pedicles on end.
Pedicles are very important

to the spine, because you always
want to see two pedicles.

A missing pedicle is a big issue
and can be consistent,

especially with different
metastatic diseases.

So always try
to identify the pedicles.

x*On scoliosis, you may not
see it, because it's rotated.

It may, as the spine rotates,
the pedicles may actually rotate

and you may not see them.
And if you look at the pedicles,

you can get some idea
of how much rotation they are.

So here's where the pedicles
should lie.

And as it starts to rotate,
the pedicles look like

they're coming off the spine,
and you can grade it, one, this

pedicle's right on the curve
and so as the pedicle rotates

to it's midline, it's three.
Across midline, it's four.

So you get some idea
of how much rotation's

associated with the curve.
x*Rotation is important to note,

because if you would try
to recreate a scoliosis,

if you just bend to one side,
you'd get a curve,

but you wouldn't get
any rotation in it.

Or, if they have a leg length
inequality, typically

you'll get a curve,
but you won't get a rotation.

So if you see a curve,
and you're thinking

is this a real curve
or maybe they're standing funny,

and you see a lot of rotation,
then you know it's a real curve.

x*So, I'm sure everyone here
is very good

at identifying scoliosis.
We've looked at how

it's measured on x-ray.
Some of these patients

really deserve to get an MRI.
And the reason is a certain

percentage, it's really
a small percentage of children,

who have scoliosis
will have interspinal pathology.

And by that, that doesn't
usually mean a tumor,

it usually means a hydromyelia,
or there could be

a little fibrous band
across the spine or to the cord.

A small percentage, somewhere
between one and four percent

will have interspinal pathology.
And there are ways

you can identify that.
x*So different people have

looked at different ways
of identifying that.

I think any patient
under age 11 who has scoliosis,

is probably worth
getting an MRI.

If you look at a number
of different studies,

it shows a much higher incidence
of interspinal abnormalities

in children under 11.
So across the board, it's small,

but under 11, it's about 15%
I'm sorry, about 50%.

x*The other issue is that
people have different changes

on physical exam,
and what kind of changes?

It can be a persistent headache.
It can be neck and back pain.

It can be abnormal
neurologic exam.

And the one exam that we've
looked at is abdominal reflexes.

So if you lightly touch
the abdomen, you'll see

the abdominal muscles contract.
And that should be symmetrical

on four quadrants.
If you use umbilicus

as a midpoint, you can do
upper left, upper right,

lower right, lower left.
You should have fairly symmetric

abdominal reflexes.
If you don't have that,

that's a consideration
they may have an abnormal

neurologic exam.
And your standard neurologic

exam, which I'm sure you do
more carefully than we do,

is important.
And if that's abnormal,

then those are things to raise
a red flag and say look,

we should get an MRI.
x*Any left thoracic curve.

For some reason,
idiopathic scoliosis

is always to the right.
If it's left, about a third

will have underlying
neurologic etiology.

It could be something obvious.
It could be cerebral palsy

or some other diagnosis,
so those are the reasons.

Under 11, abnormal neurologic
exam, or a left curve, or

a curve with increased kyphosis,
all deserve further evaluation.

Assuming they don't have
any of that, and you're

pretty confident it's idiopathic
scoliosis, then the next step

is figuring out, is this really
going to get worse or not.

x*Because if it's not
going to get worse, who cares?

Scoliosis will not kill you.
It's not a tumor,

or a fracture, or an infection.
So really the concern is,

is this going to get worse?
And it depends, really,

on two things.
It depends

on the size of the angle.
So if you've got a big curve,

chances are more likely
it will get worse.

It's a little bit like
the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The more it leans, the more
likely it's going to fall.

So if it's under ten degrees,
the chance of it getting worse

in general are small.
Over 40, it's greater.

x*But there's other factors
that come into play,

and probably the second most
important is--

Well, I'll just touch on
female/male ratio.

Scoliosis is much more common
in females.

Small curves are almost
equally as common.

But the bigger curve you get,
the more likely and the more

asymmetric that balance is,
so as you get to be big curves,

it's much more common
to be females than male.

x*So part of the issue
is deciding natural history.

A 25 degree curve,
like we see up here on the left,

is really not an issue.
It will not effect you,

it should not cause lower back
pain or long-term issues.

But some of these curves
go on like this one,

and get to be severe,
and some of them don't.

And that's really the focus
of most of the research now.

Figuring out which one of these
curves will stay 25 degrees,

which ones go to 102,
because that's what we're going

to need to know
when to intervene.

I don't know which ones
will necessarily go

and which ones don't.
x*But we do have some

information.
And so at presentation,

if the child is very young
and they have a big curve,

as you might guess,
those are much more likely

to get worse.
If they're older, they've

gone through the growth spurt
and they have a small curve,

it's very unlikely to get worse.
And just some general things.

A curve over 20 degrees
and under age 10,

is going to progress
virtually 100% of the time.

So if you just use
as a general marker,

a child is under age 10,
a curve over 20 degrees,

this one's going to get worse.
You'll want to treat it.

I would treat it,
certainly with bracing,

but you want to treat it
even at a fairly small curve.

x*If they're over 15, and
the curve is under 20 degrees,

it's only a 4% chance
of getting worse.

And even then, it's probably
never going to get worse to

the point that it requires any
kind of significant treatment.

There are a lot of other things
you can do, if you wanted

to try to narrow that down
a little bit.

I'm not sure they help
that much.

x*People have looked at,
how can you tell whether

this child is mature or not.
I don't do the Tanner Stages,

but we will look at x-rays
of the hip

and we can look at the Risser.
The Risser score actually

looks at the iliac apophysis
to see when it forms.

And if you look down here,
there's apophysis.

And it's forming.
It has not fully consolidated,

so there's this black line.
It kind of starts in front

and works all the way back,
to there and you can divide that

into quadrants.
Risser one and two is over here.

As it goes back, it's four.
And then as you get to be

an adult, it completely fuses,
and you can't even see

that line.
That's not very accurate, so

I wouldn't spend a lot of time
worrying about that, but it's

what's been used historically
for years.

If their Risser is zero or one,
they're immature,

if they're anything more,
they're mature.

The bottom line is by the time
you really see this,

they're already mature,
so it's not all that helpful.

x*The triradiated cartilage
is at the hip, and I apologize,

it's just off this x-ray.
But it's where the different

bones of the hip come together,
and when that fuses,

once that's fused,
they are also skeletally mature.

So open triradiated cartilage
in itself is a risk.

If it's open, the chance
of progression is about 40%.

x*This is the classic
risk factor, so it's looking at

that risk assigned.
Again, people who are

less mature, so we're not
looking at age, but less mature,

Risser is 0-1
curves that are over 20 degrees,

68% chance of progressing.
So I think the age

is easier to look at.
x*We know that if they're

under age 10, over 20 degrees,
100% chance of progressing.

But if you want to use
the Risser score,

you can do the same.
What this really is helpful

is saying is if they have
a curve under 20 degrees,

and the iliac apophysis is
just about fused, they only have

a one or two percent chance
of progressing.

And that's nice to be able
to tell the parents that.

x*People focus on some of the
other issues as well,

including peak height velocity,
which is a little more accurate.

In general, it's 12 in girls
and 14 in boys.

So if you just want to age
over the age 12 in girls

in general,
they are skeletally mature.

Over 14 in boys.
Menarche, and axillary hair on

both, are also ways to indicate
the end of the growth spurt

and risk of progression
of scoliosis.

x*Although boys are less likely
to get scoliosis,

the negative for males is that
their scoliosis can progress,

even when they're older.
So if you are going to brace,

or have a young male
that's braced, then you want

to brace them
until they're quite a bit older.

Not only do they mature later,
but you need to brace them

close to 18 years of age.
x*Before you really want to think

about treating any disease,
you have to have some idea

of what the natural history
of the disease is, because

why treat something that's
not going to cause a problem.

There isn't a lot
of natural history studies.

Nachemson, which is a researcher
in northern Europe in 1968 said,

you know, if you have scoliosis,
it increases your mortality

two times.
Half the people

are on disability.
Most people don't get married.

The problem with that study
is that they had large

initial curves.
These were not sort of

mild scoliosis, and many of them
probably had neuromuscular

disorders.
So they had cerebral palsy

and other disorders that
were all mixed in the batch.

So it really wasn't
a very accurate study.

x*I think people have found
since then that scoliosis

does not necessarily have to be
a major impediment to life,

that you can work
and be independent,

you can get married,
almost at the same rate

as the general population.
x*So scoliosis, it may cause

a cosmetic deformity,
but it rarely causes significant

functional limitations, and that
is a little bit controversial.

What kind of functional
limitations it causes,

but for day-to-day activities,
it rarely causes significant

functional limitations.
x*The other issue comes up

with pain.
And in general, scoliosis

can cause actually increased--
There is some concern

that long-term scoliosis
can cause increased pain.

I think that's probably true.
The caveat is children

who have scoliosis
don't present with pain.

But long-term, if you have
scoliosis, and it progresses,

it can cause a higher incidence
of pain.

And the pain may be
a little bit more severe.

But if you take into fact
that about 80% of adults

will have back pain
that's significant enough

they seek medical attention,
it's very difficult to sort out

how much worse that is.
It depends on who you talk to.

x*So the studies in Iowa
show that it's really not that

big of a deal, it doesn't
increase pain that much.

Other studies say it's a bigger
issue.

And what we don't know,
if we fuse the spine

or make it straight,
do we decrease

that incidence of pain.
So we don't know if our

treatment makes it better.
x*So we've sort of ruled out

neuromuscular congenital
scoliosis.

We're looking at idiopathic
scoliosis, just to make it

a little more confusing,
idiopathic scoliosis

tends to come in three flavors
and is set by age.

And this is really arbitrary.
Anything under age 3,

is called infantile
and over age 10 is adolescent,

which is by far
the most common.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis,
typically referred to as AIS.

And then in between is juvenile.
I'll talk briefly about these,

but you can see infantile
is very small, about 5%,

juvenile is 15%
and adolescent is 80%.

x*This is infantile scoliosis.
And I refer to it

as Bazaro Scoliosis,
because everything's backwards.

It's just different
than idiopathic scoliosis.

It tends to occur young,
it's more common in boys

than girls.
Right-sided curves are uncommon.

And we looked at something
called the rib-vertebral

angle difference.
But the bottom line is

curves under about 35 degrees
tend to actually get better.

That is something that doesn't
happen in idiopathic scoliosis.

Curves over 30 degrees--
That is rib-vertebral angles

over 20 degrees,
tend to progress.

If you want to measure it,
it's a little bit hard

to measure.
What you do is you find the

curve, the apex of the curve,
so that's where the curve

is the worst,
and you measure the rib angle

with the vertebra,
with the horizontal

right here.
Here's the rib, draw a line up.

And then this is the angle
it takes with the vertical.

You do it on the other side
and you take the difference

between the two angles.
And if the difference

is more than 20 degrees,
it will tend to progress.

The others actually tend
to get better.

x*The problem is the ones
that don't get better, now you

have a real problem, because
you have this little spine

and it's going to get worse
and they're very, very young.

We don't have a great treatment.
This is Dr. Meta,

the older one on the left,
who developed the angle.

And she really has focused on
bracing and casting techniques

for this, and really feels
this is important.

It was printed in our major
journal, the JBJS, about two

or three years ago.
And people are starting

to do these casts.
It's starting to catch on,

but whether or not it works,
and how well it works is still

a little bit up for debate.
x*Some people feel that casting

a child from this young of age
and forcing them to wear a brace

for the rest of their life
is really not a fair thing

to do.
So it's not clear whether

casting is the right way to go
or not.

But we did, where I trained,
had a casting program.

We would place this cast on,
and that's a picture of a child

in the cast.
The cast is obviously

trimmed down, but it does go up
fairly high around the neck.

There's a cutout
for the abdomen.

In Dr. Meta's hands,
it has shown that it provides

relatively reasonable
correction.

She, by the way, has a really
significant scoliosis

and obviously
is doing just fine.

Newer treatments and probably
what most people

here in North America are doing
are various different types of

what they call growing rods,
which is a misnomer.

They're now using
a titanium rib or adapter to try

to get some correction and
be used as a temporary splint,

allowing the spine to grow
and do more definitive treatment

as the child grows.
I'll show examples of some of

those in just a little bit.
x*Juvenile scoliosis is sort of

a mixed bag, because now
you're dealing with kids

between four and ten.
Their curves, if they're

younger, tend to be a little bit
more like infantile.

If they're older, they
tend to be a little more like

idiopathic.
So there seems to be

a higher genetic
predisposition influence.

It's children between
age four and ten, by definition,

at diagnosis.
And about generally,

one-third don't progress,
one-third can be braced

and do well with bracing.
Actually, you can get correction

in the brace.
About a third go on to surgery.

A fair number of these
have abnormal MRIs,

so these are ones that
you want to get an MRI on.

x*And this is a patient
that had juvenile scoliosis,

was braced, was very diligent
about the bracing,

and you can see the curve
actually improved.

That is something you won't see
with idiopathic scoliosis,

you can't make the curve better
with idiopathic.

But with juvenile, there is
a potential to do that.

x*Most of the treatment now
will focus on the idiopathic

scoliosis in adolescence.
Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

So this is our algorithm for
the vast majority of patients

that come in our door.
So we've ruled out other forms

of idiopathic scoliosis.
We know it's adolescent.

And this is in general,
how we treat it.

Curves less than 20 degrees,
we observe, we don't treat.

Curves, whether they're mature
or not immature.

If their mature,
and it's less than 45 degrees,

we observe it, because
there's very little chance

of this progressing.
By observation, is doesn't mean

necessarily just saying
good-bye, but it probably

is worth a follow-up
every one to two years.

So once they've gone through
their growth spurt,

if they're less than 45 degrees,
then we don't do anything.

x*Curves, if they're immature
and it's greater than 30 degrees

or we see it progressing
beyond about 25 degrees, we

think it's reasonable to brace.
That's the standard treatment.

This has been around
for ten years or so.

It's really undergoing scrutiny.
There's now a randomized

double blind study
where they're looking at

the value of bracing.
And unfortunately this study,

from my understanding,
has only had a very few people

that they were able to recruit,
because you're asking someone

either to have bracing
or not bracing.

And most people don't want
to be randomized to that,

so we'll see if they can get
information from that.

x*But there are clearly some
surgeons that believe

curves will progress
or won't progress

whether you brace them,
and bracing does nothing.

Yet there is some pretty good
evidence that bracing works.

So, I still certainly believe
that bracing is important.

And if it's done right,
it can make the difference.

x*And then finally, if you have
a patient with a curve

over 50 degrees, especially
if they're skeletally immature,

those are ones
we may consider surgery,

depending on the various
different circumstances.

x*So here are all the different
kinds of braces that we use.

The Milwaukee Braces
are the gold standard.

It's a large brace.
And it actually has a collar

that goes around the neck.
It's somewhat unsightly,

and kids hate it.
And the collar's designed,

actually, not to push
against the neck,

but to irritate enough
so that the child stands

in a straighter position.
So an upper thoracic curve,

that's really the only brace
that works.

But now more and more people
use one of these other braces.

x*This is a Molded TLSO,
some people refer to it

as the Boston Brace.
And it's actually designed

to correct the curve,
but it goes under the arms,

and it's less obvious to wear.
x*There are a couple of things

about braces,
and it's very important.

You can't just prescribe
this brace.

This is a brace
that has to be prescribed,

and it has to be fitted.
Then we have to make sure

that the brace
is actually causing correction.

Because if you have a curve, and
you put a brace on and it's not

making the curve straighter,
it's really not

going to do anything.
So the concept

was to get the brace.
We see them back after they've

had the brace for about a month
and it's fitting,

we know it's fitting well.
We make sure the curve

is decreased by about 50%.
If you have a 40-degree curve,

you'll want it
less than 20 degrees.

And the second issue,
if they don't wear it, obviously

it's not going to do anything.
x*So what we found is that

people, on average, will wear
the brace about two-thirds

what they say they wear it,
just as a general rule.

And often people don't wear
the brace quite as much

as you think.
On the other hand, you wonder

how much of that is people
who have sort of given up

on braces, and
aren't strongly promoting it.

I think it's part of our
responsibility to say

that there's good evidence
that this works, if you wear it.

And if you wear it,
it may make a difference.

So it's a little bit hard
to know how effective they are.

But I'll show some studies
that actually show

there is some good evidence
that say they work.

x*How do braces work?
Well, this is a couple

different studies that show that
if you decrease the curve

to 20 degrees, you increase
stability of the curve

from 50-80% of normal.
So again, it's a little like

the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
You can't make it straight,

but you can sort of hoist it up.
And if you can keep them

to a smaller curve to the point
of skeletal maturity,

then the curve
should not progress.

So if you keep the curve
under 50 degrees,

it probably won't progress.
x*The biggest study came out

in 1995 was again Nachemson,
and you may remember this name.

Same person from before.
Did a multi-center study,

looking at 247 patients.
Now there's a big dropout,

so there's hundreds of patients
that didn't have follow up,

but of the patients that had,
they looked at electrical

stimulation, observation,
and they had a failure rate

of about 67%.
But those that had bracing,

had a failure rate of 26%.
It's a little bit hard to say,

because they had such a huge
dropout in the study, but

at least it's about the best
and largest study we have to say

bracing makes a difference.
x*Rowe, two years later,

did a meta-analysis
of nearly 2,000 patients.

He found a fairly significant
improvement with bracing.

It's not 100%,
but it's certainly better

than electrical stimulation,
which had actually made things

a little worse than observation.
x*Physical therapy

would be great.
If you could send someone to

therapy to correct their curve,
that would be wonderful.

But there's really
no good evidence at this point

to say physical therapy
is effective.

But there are some
interesting studies out there

which have shown increasing
trunkal strength may actually

long-term improve scoliosis.
But the follow-up

hasn't been there.
So, in general, I don't know

of anyone today
that prescribes physical therapy

for scoliosis.
We will for people

that have mild kyphosis, but
we won't do it for scoliosis.

This is just a little bit
on physical therapy for surgery,

I'll skip over that.
x*So once we get to the point

where we believe
it's a surgical curve,

we actually try
to define the curve.

And this is a classic
King Classification, which looks

at where the curve is:
if it's a thoracic curve,

if it's a lumbar curve,
if it's a combination of both.

And it's supposed to help us
decide when to fuse the spine.

x*People have now gone to
a different curve

classification system
named after Larry Lenke.

It was developed at a number
of different institutions.

It actually breaks
curve patterns up to a possible

46 different patterns.
So it's one of the more

confusing systems
that we have in place.

But I think it's important
for research to be able to use

a system like that.
It classifies a curve both

on sagittal and coronal views.
It helps give an idea of,

not only which ones
may progress, but from our

standpoint, more importantly,
how you would actually

treat them surgically.
x*There has been trends

to treat it surgically
a lot of different ways.

So there's a big trend to try
to fuse the spine anteriorly,

and I'll show a little bit
about that.

The trend has now gone back
to basically fusing people

posteriorly.
There's an obvious advantage.

The spine is very superficial
posteriorly.

You don't have to go through
the abdomen or the pelvis.

And in that regard,
it's quite a bit a safer.

There are disadvantages
to going posteriorly.

But with the new instrumentation
that we're using today

which include pedicle screws,
it seems like we can get

fairly significant correction
by going posteriorly.

x*And this is just a straight
posterior incision.

It's very straightforward.
You go straight down the midline

and you dissect the musculature
laterally.

And then the concept
is you want to fuse the spine.

That's really what
you want to do.

The instrumentation
and stuff we put in

is absolutely secondary.
So most children fuse very well,

even historically,
they would just strip off

all the soft tissue,
put bone down

and put them in a cast,
most of those fused.

x*Now we use instrumentation
mainly just to get rid of

the cast part and get
a little better correction.

Instrumentation has varied.
About ten years ago, pedicle

hooks, which you can see here,
were the primary device used.

There are little wires that go
under the lamina, right here,

called lamina wires.
x*Dr. Drummond developed wires

here in Madison,
called Wisconsin Wires, which

are probably the safest device,
which actually goes through

the spinous processes and stay
completely out of the spine.

x*And now pedicle screws, which
obviously can have a problem.

If you put it incorrectly it can
obviously hit the spinal cord,

major vessels.
But pedicle screws

give you great fixation.
More and more people

are using pedicle screws today
to get fixation.

x*This is just an example
of what you get.

In general, if you have a curve
that's 80 degrees, you'll get

about 50-70% correction.
This is a curve that started

at 82 degrees,
and it went down to 28.

I think that's about
the correction you'll get,

which is fine.
I'd be very happy

with a correction of 28 degrees.
x*But probably the more important

thing is you want the patient
to be balanced.

So if their curve is small and
their head is over their pelvis,

and then they have a good
sagittal profile,

they're going to be very happy
regardless of what the curve is.

I think as a surgeon,
you want to get the curve

as small as possible.
That's really not the most

important thing for the patient.
The most important thing

is balance.
x*We've found that from

a functional standpoint,
that it's really balance

from a side view that matters,
or the sagittal alignment

that makes all the difference,
and especially down

in the lumbar region,
so we work hard

to restore that as best we can.
x*Neuromuscular scoliosis

classically has been treated a
little differently, because you

don't fuse part of the spine.
So, in neuropathic scoliosis

you just treat the curve,
for the most part.

In neuromuscular, you treat
the whole spine, because

if you don't, they tend to get
curves above and below.

x*So this is a patient that had
cerebral palsy, and

they actually had a hip issue.
We addressed the hip issue first

and the hip actually is seated
nicely, but they have a

great deal of pelvic obliquity.
Pelvic obliquity is actually

what puts the hip at risk.
And treating the hip will never

treat the pelvic obliquity.
Often, people will actually

address the spine first
to even out the pelvis, and

then treat the hip as needed.
In this case,

the hip was treated first.
They had a fairly significant

curve.
We knew this was progressing.

They had difficulty sitting
in their wheelchair.

We treated them with the
standard posterior spinal fusion

and this is
the final correction.

So you can get really
pretty good correction.

And again, even if it's not
perfect, it really does

seem to make a difference
in their lives.

And some people argue that
you don't need to do surgery,

and clearly it's a long
discussion you have

with the patients and family.
But caregivers, in every study

I've looked at are extremely
happy with the results,

and 80-90, 90-95% of caregivers
really believe that surgical

treatment for scoliosis
is beneficial.

x*There are a lot of
complications, especially

in neuromuscular scoliosis.
Most of those you can work

through.
And fortunately, we have

a lot of people in the hospital
help us get through

these issues.
But postoperatively,

it's a big surgery.
They almost always require

blood.
They have huge fluid changes.

It's not quite as much of an
issue in idiopathic scoliosis,

so complication rate, the big
one we worry about obviously,

is neurologic complication rate
is about 1 in 1,000.

That's the question you get,
what's the chance

of a neurologic injury.
A permanent neurologic injury

is about 1 in 1,000.
That doesn't mean the spinal

cord injury, but some type
of neurologic injury.

Infection is fairly uncommon.
It's about 5%,

or a little bit less.
Often that can be treated

without removing the hardware.
And then there are always

pulmonary type issues,
that are a little more common.

x*About five to ten years ago,
there was a big push to try to

go anteriorly, so that was
making an incision in the front,

putting instrumentation
in the front, and it actually

works relatively well.
The reason why you might want

to do that, is because you
could fuse less of your spine.

And even though we really don't
know what the consequences

are of fusing the spine
to the rest of the spine,

it just make sense,
you want to fuse as little

as possible.
There's a big push to go

anteriorly.
I won't go into great detail,

but as you can see,
it's a big incision.

I'll show you some pictures.
You can see that's the rib, and

you have to move the rib aside.
Pull the lung out of the way.

There's significant changes
in pulmonary function for up to

one to two years afterwards.
And then you put in

instrumentation.
x*Instrumentation

is actually fairly easy.
We typically perform this with

pediatric surgery colleagues.
But the instrumentation

and the surgery part actually
is fairly straightforward,

because the spine
is right there.

And this is the type of
correction that you can get.

Here's another example.
x*When anterior versus posterior

instrumentation was compared,
basically what was found

that in certain curves,
you can actually save a couple

of levels, but the actual
correction is not any different.

So if you have that particular
curve, where you may be able

to not fuse a couple of levels,
it still may be reasonable

to go anteriorly, but I think
that is only time

people are doing that.
The other advantage to going

anteriorly, is you can do
arthroscopic techniques,

that is through small
band-aid type incisions.

That's done less commonly now,
but it can be done.

And doing surgery that way
in experienced hands

really gives about
the same correction as doing it

through a big incision.
It just takes

about four times as long.
x*This is post-op activities.

Our post-op regimen has changed
quite a bit, depending on

the quality of fixation
and the patient.

But in general, for up to
a year, we want people

lifting less than 50 pounds.
For the first six months,

we often limit their bending
at the hips and lifting as well.

So after scoliosis surgery,
it's very important that

they limit their activities.
And most backpacks now seem to

weigh about 100 pounds,
so that limits their backpacks.

x*There are new treatments coming
out and one of the big pushes

is how can we correct this curve
without fusing it, because

it just doesn't make sense.
We were born with a spine

that's mobile, why would
we fuse it and make it solid.

And one of the ways
is using these

memory shaped alloy staples.
In a long bone, if you put

a staple or some kind of tether
on one side of the growth plate,

the leg will grow
asymmetrically.

The thought is maybe we can do
the same thing with the spine.

We can put these on the convex
curve, and put them

into a small little incision,
and the spine might

start to grow straight.
And so that's the concept.

x*Unfortunately what happened
in the '50s, this was done, and

all the staples would fall out
and they would go into things

like the heart and other places
you don't want them to be.

x*So that was sort of poo-pooed,
until we found the staples

that stay in and
they're a shape memory alloy.

So unless your body temperature
goes below about 20 degrees

Celsius, they will stay in.
And this is that 7-year-old

that had a bump on her back.
She's seven years old, this

curve is now over 20 degrees.
We know this is going to

progress.
And one option is bracing.

And certainly, this was
a patient that was offered

and tried bracing.
I hate to say wasn't compliant,

but didn't use a bracing
regimen and went on--

Here's a fairly flexible curve
though.

Went on to have these staples
placed on the convex

of both curves.
And over time--

this is how they're placed,
so they're actually placed

through small incisions.
It's not technically

that difficult to put these in.
x*So that basically showed

that over time,
the curve basically did not

progress over time,
which saves a larger surgery

down the road.
And we looked at our first about

40 patients and in general,
it's very unlikely for a curve

to progress to a point
where it needs surgery, and

some curves actually improved.
So if you can keep a 20-degree

curve at about 20 degrees,
and one where you know

that the natural history
is for it to progress,

I think that's probably
a victory.

Other options.
For the very young patients

is to use what we call
a titanium rib or adapter

and this is something
that stays out of the spine.

It goes on the rib and down
to the pelvis.

And by doing that,
you can actually get correction.

It's a temporary thing, so
the idea is when they're older,

you can do more formal surgery.
And so those are some of

the different treatment options
that are being used,

newer treatment options
that are being used today.

And that was really it,
just some of these pictures.

Thank you very much. Any
questions at all?</P></SYNC>
</Body>