Spinopelvic parameters describe the orientation, shape, and morphology of the spine and pelvis. In children without spinal deformity, these parameters change during the first 10 years of life; however, spinopelvic parameters need to be defined in children with significant early-onset scoliosis (EOS). The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of EOS on sagittal spinopelvic alignment. We hypothesise that sagittal spinopelvic parameters for patients with EOS will differ from age-matched children without spinal deformity. These values will act as a baseline for future studies and may predict postoperative complications such as proximal junctional kyphosis and implant failure in children being treated with growing systems. Standing, lateral radiographs of 82 untreated patients with EOS with Cobb angle greater than 50° were evaluated. Sagittal spine parameters (sagittal balance, thoracic kyphosis [TK], lumbar lordosis [LL]) and sagittal pelvic parameters (pelvic incidence [PI], pelvic tilt [PT], sacral slope [SS], and modified pelvic radius angle [PR]) were measured. These results were compared with those reported by Mac-Thiong and colleagues (Introduction
Methods
Spinopelvic parameters describe the orientation, shape, and morphology of the spine and pelvis. These parameters change during the first 10 years of life in children without spinal deformity; however, spinopelvic parameters have yet to be defined in children with significant early-onset scoliosis (EOS). Sagittal plane alignment could affect the natural history and outcome of interventions for EOS. As a result, spinopelvic parameters are being defined for this population. On the basis of the landmarks used for measurement of these parameters, there may be inherent error in performing these measurements on the immature pelvis. The purpose of this study is to define the variability associatedwith the measurement of spinopelvic parameters in children with EOS. Standing, lateral radiographs of 11 patients with untreated EOS were evaluated. Sagittal spinopelvic parameters (pelvic incidence [PI], pelvic tilt [PT], sacral slope [SS], and modified pelvic radius angle [PR]) were measured. To assess intraobserver reliability, these measurements were repeated 15 days apart. To define interobserver reliability, radiographs were measured by 2 independent observers.Introduction
Methods
