We present a method of visualising spinal deformities in three dimensions using conventional radiographs and computer graphics. The shape of the spinal column can be determined from the anteroposterior and lateral radiographs and displayed in any projection. In patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, the fundamental lesion, an abnormal lordosis, can be demonstrated without the need for additional views. The method is applicable to other spinal deformities and may help to elucidate their three-dimensional shape

The June 2024 Children’s orthopaedics Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Proximal femoral unicameral bone cysts: is ESIN the answer?; Hybrid-mesh casts in the conservative management of paediatric supracondylar humeral fractures: a randomized controlled trial; Rate and risk factors for contralateral slippage in adolescents treated for slipped capital femoral epiphysis; CRP predicts the need to escalate care after initial debridement for musculoskeletal infection; Genu valgum in paediatric patients presenting with patellofemoral instability; Nusinersen therapy changed the natural course of spinal muscular atrophy type 1: what about spine and hip?; The necessity of ulnar nerve exploration and translocation in open reduction of medial humeral epicondyle fractures in children.

We reviewed 31 consecutive patients with Friedreich’s ataxia and scoliosis. There were 24 males and seven females with a mean age at presentation of 15.5 years (8.6 to 30.8) and a mean curve of 51° (13° to 140°). A total of 12 patients had thoracic curvatures, 11 had thoracolumbar and eight had double thoracic/lumbar. Two patients had long thoracolumbar collapsing scoliosis with pelvic obliquity and four had hyperkyphosis. Left-sided thoracic curves in nine patients (45%) and increased thoracic kyphosis differentiated these deformities from adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. There were 17 patients who underwent a posterior instrumented spinal fusion at mean age of 13.35 years, which achieved and maintained good correction of the deformity. Post-operative complications included one death due to cardiorespiratory failure, one revision to address nonunion and four patients with proximal junctional kyphosis who did not need extension of the fusion. There were no neurological complications and no wound infections. The rate of progression of the scoliosis in children kept under simple observation and those treated with bracing was less for lumbar curves during bracing and similar for thoracic curves. The scoliosis progressed in seven of nine children initially treated with a brace who later required surgery. Two patients presented after skeletal maturity with balanced curves not requiring correction. Three patients with severe deformities who would benefit from corrective surgery had significant cardiac co-morbidities

Fifty patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis treated by posterior fusion and Harrington instrumentation augmented by a Cotrel bar or by sublaminal Luque wires were studied in a prospective trial to ascertain the need for postoperative bracing. Twenty-five patients wore a plaster brace postoperatively for six months, while 25 were managed without a brace. The mean loss of correction from the first standing postoperative radiograph to one obtained two years later was 7 degrees in the braced group, and 6.3 degrees in the unbraced group, the difference not being statistically significant. We conclude that postoperative bracing is unnecessary after augmented Harrington instrumentation

The changing incidence of idiopathic scoliosis in 672 patients who attended the Edinburgh Scoliosis Clinic between 1968 and 1982 inclusive is reported. Of these patients, 144 had infantile, 51 juvenile and 477 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Thirty-seven of the infantile curves progressed and 107 resolved. The relative frequency of both progressive and resolving infantile idiopathic scoliosis (given as a percentage of the total number of patients with idiopathic scoliosis) declined from 41.75 per cent in the four years from 1968 to 1971, to four per cent in the three years from 1980 to 1982. It is suggested that infantile idiopathic scoliosis is a preventable deformity and that the position in which the infant is laid may be a causative factor

Thirty-four patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were assessed by radiography and the integrated shape imaging system (ISIS) both before and after spinal surgery. Twenty-seven patients underwent Harrington instrumentation, after which lateral indices of curvature were significantly improved, but changes in the transverse plane were less pronounced. Sublaminar wiring was carried out in two patients whose thoracic lordosis was corrected by the surgery. Five patients whose severe deformity had persisted after previous spinal surgery underwent costoplasty, which resulted in a significant improvement in back shape measurements. We conclude that the cosmetic deformity of the back in scoliosis is only partially corrected by operations on the spine itself, whilst costoplasty addresses the problem directly, and improves the surface shape

Preliminary costectomy before Harrington instrumentation and fusion for idiopathic scoliosis allows direct excision of the rib prominence and better correction at the second-stage operation. The excised rib fragments are used as grafts, thus avoiding the need for a separate pelvic incision. The management regime and the technique of costectomy are described. The results in 42 children, most suffering from adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and all treated by this method, have been reviewed. Respiratory function in a group of these children has been compared with that of a group treated by Harrington instrumentation alone. Costectomy produced a significantly greater reduction in total lung capacity and peak expiratory flow rate but, providing the preliminary lung function tests were reasonably normal, the cosmetic and psychological effects of costectomy were very rewarding

The variability in measurement of angles in congenital scoliosis is not known, but it is postulated that it is larger than that in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis due to skeletal immaturity, incomplete ossification, and anomalous development of the end-vertebrae. To determine this variability, we selected 54 radiographs of adequate quality showing 67 scoliotic curves from children with congenital scoliosis. The end-vertebrae were preselected. Each curve was measured by the Cobb method on two separate occasions by six different observers, using the same goniometer and marker. The intraobserver variability was +/- 9.6 degrees and the interobserver variability +/- 11.8 degrees. If 'significant progression' is to be used as a criterion for surgical fusion in congenital scoliosis, there should be at least a 23 degrees increase, the entire range of the interobserver variability, in the curvature to ensure that the perceived increase is not due to variability in measurement

The December 2023 Spine Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Does size matter in adolescent pedicle screws?; Effect of lumbar fusion and pelvic fixation rigidity on hip joint stress: a finite element analysis; Utility of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of lumbar spondylolysis in adolescent patients; Rett syndrome-associated scoliosis a national picture.

We studied 29 girls and one boy with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who were at Risser grade 0 at the time of posterior spinal fusion and were followed until maturity (mean 7.8 years). We used serial radiographs to measure the ratio of disc to vertebral height in the fused segments and to detect differential anterior spinal growth and assess its effect on scoliosis, vertebral rotation, kyphosis, and rib-vertebral-angle difference (RVAD). From one year after surgery to the latest review, the percentage anterior disc height decreased by nearly one-half and the percentage posterior disc height by nearly one-third in the fused segments (p < 0.001). There was a 4 degree increase in mean Cobb angle (p < 0.001), 11 patients (37%) having an increase of between 6 degrees and 10 degrees. There was a significant increase in mean apical rotation by 2 degrees (p = 0.003), and four patients (13%) had an increase of between 6 degrees and 16 degrees. There was little change in kyphosis. There was an increase in mean RVAD by 4 degrees (p = 0.003), seven patients (23%) showing a reduction by 1 degree to 7 degrees, and 11 (37%) increases of between 6 degrees and 16 degrees. Spinal growth occurs after posterior fusion in adolescents who are skeletally immature, as a result of continued anterior vertebral growth. There is some progression of scoliosis, vertebral rotation, and RVAD, but little change in kyphosis. The increase in deformity is not enough to warrant the use of combined anterior and posterior fusion. The findings are relevant to the management of progressive curves, the timing and extent of surgery, and the prognosis for progression of deformity in this group of patients

The December 2022 Children’s orthopaedics Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Immobilization of torus fractures of the wrist in children (FORCE): a randomized controlled equivalence trial in the UK; Minimally invasive method in treatment of idiopathic congenital vertical talus: recurrence is uncommon; “You’re O.K. Anaesthesia”: closed reduction of displaced paediatric forearm and wrist fractures in the office without anaesthesia; Trunk range of motion and patient outcomes after anterior vertebral body tethering versus posterior spinal fusion: comparison using computerized 3D motion capture technology; Selective dorsal rhizotomy for individuals with spastic cerebral palsy; Scheuermann’s kyphosis and posterior spinal fusion; All-pedicle-screw constructs in skeletally immature patients with severe idiopathic early-onset scoliosis; Proximal femoral screw hemiepiphysiodesis in children with cerebral palsy.

The April 2024 Children’s orthopaedics Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Ultrasonography or radiography for suspected paediatric distal forearm fractures?; Implant density in scoliosis: an important variable?; Gait after paediatric femoral shaft fracture treated with intramedullary nail fixation: a longitudinal prospective study; The opioid dilemma: navigating pain management for children’s bone fractures; 12- to 20-year follow-up of Dega acetabuloplasty in patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip; Physeal fractures of the distal ulna: incidence and risk factors for premature growth arrest; Analysis of growth after transphyseal anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in children; Management of lateral condyle humeral fracture associated with elbow dislocation in children: a retrospective international multicentre cohort study.

Aims

To determine whether side-bending films in scoliosis are assessed for adequacy in clinical practice; and to introduce a novel method for doing so.