Prevalence of thoracic scoliosis in adults 25 to 64 years of age detected during routine chest radiographs

The Superiority of Schroth Exercise Combined Brace Treatment for Mild-to-Moderate Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to assess and rank the comparative efficacy of different nonoperative treatments on Cobb angle, angle of trunk rotation, and quality of life for mild-to-moderate adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

METHODS

A comprehensive search of databases, including Medline, The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science spanning all previous years up to January 1, 2024. The included studies were evaluated for literature quality according to Cochrane Handbook criteria, and a network meta-analysis was performed using STATA 14.0 statistical software.

RESULTS

Twenty randomized controlled trials met all inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Schroth exercise and scoliosis-specific exercise combined with brace treatments had a significant positive effect on Cobb angle and quality of life. For angle of trunk rotation, Schroth exercise and Schroth exercise combined with brace treatments prove more effective compared to the control group. On surface-under-the-cumulative-ranking-curve analysis, Schroth exercise combined with brace treatment had the highest likelihood for reducing Cobb angle (P-score = 0.899), angle of trunk rotation (0.82), and improving quality of life (0.828).

CONCLUSIONS

Although most conservative treatments had benefits for mild-to-moderate adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, the most optimal programs were those that included (1) at least 10 weeks of approximately 60-minute Schroth exercise sessions twice a week and (2) wearing the brace for 23 hours every day throughout the treatment period.

Mid and lower thoracic kyphosis changes during adulthood: the influence of age, sex and thoracic coronal curvature

INTRODUCTION

There is conflicting data on how thoracic kyphosis changes throughout adulthood. We evaluated mid and lower thoracic kyphosis (MTK) in various age groups and the influence of age, sex and coronal curve (CC) on MTK.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We studied 1323 patients 15-80 years-old (54.4% females) previously evaluated with chest radiographs. We established three groups: patients 15-40 (group 1); 41-60 (group 2) and 61-80 years old (group 3). MTK (T5-T12) and CC were measured using Cobb's method. We established differences in MTK between groups using ANOVA with Bonferroni correction. We performed a correlation analysis of MTK with age and CC, and a linear regression analysis to determine if age, sex and CC independently predicted MTK.

RESULTS

MTK increased with older age: mean MTK group 1 = 23.4°; group 2 = 27.9° and group 3 = 34.4°, p < 0.01. The increase in MTK was observed in both genders. Scoliosis was more common in females (15.4%) than in males (6.7%), p < 0.01. MTK was correlated with age (r = 0.4; p < 0.01) and slightly correlated with CC (r = 0.07, p < 0.01). MTK was larger in females than in males (29.1° vs. 27.6°, p < 0.01). Age (ß-coefficient = 0.26) and CC (ß-coefficient = 0.14), but not sex, independently influenced MTK in the regression analysis.

CONCLUSION

MTK increases with advancing age during adulthood in both genders; CC, but not sex, was an independent predictor of MTK.

Characterization of Adult Patients With SMA Treated in US Hospital Settings: A Natural History Study in the Premier Healthcare Database

Background:

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare genetic disease characterized by progressive muscular weakness and atrophy resulting from motor neuron degeneration. Limited information is available on disease progression among older SMA patients, particularly adults.

Objective:

This study sought to characterize the natural history of SMA among adult patients in US hospital settings through the assessment of symptoms, complications, costs, and healthcare resource utilization (HRU) over 3 years before the availability of disease-modifying therapies.

Methods:

The study population included adult (≥18 years) patients with inpatient and/or hospital-based outpatient discharge records and ≥2 primary or secondary SMA ICD-9 codes ≥30 days apart in the Premier Healthcare Database during the main study period (2007–2014). Index date was the date of the first SMA ICD-9 code. The frequency of SMA-related symptoms and complications was assessed 1 year preindex through 2 years postindex to characterize disease progression. Costs and HRU were also assessed across the study period.

Results:

A total of 446 adult patients from 337 US hospitals met inclusion criteria for these analyses. All evaluated SMA-related symptoms and complications increased steadily over time, from 1 year preindex to 2 years postindex both overall and in each age group. Adult patients with SMA had increasing total costs and HRU over the 3-year study period: total costs were $1,759 preindex and $12,308 by 2 years postindex.

Conclusions:

Findings are consistent with increasing disease burden over time and support the progressive nature of SMA for adult patients with hospital interactions.

The role of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome in the relationship between congenital heart disease and scoliosis

BACKGROUND CONTEXT

For over four decades, clinicians and researchers have suggested a relationship between congenital heart disease (CHD) and scoliosis, attributed to either the disease itself or to the long-term effects of cardiac surgery on the immature thoracic cage. However, no study has yet accounted for 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS), the second most common cause of CHD after Down syndrome. 22q11.2DS has a scoliosis risk of 50%, but within 22q11.2DS a previous report found no significant association between scoliosis and CHD. We, therefore, hypothesized that scoliosis within a CHD cohort would be related to an underlying 22q11.2 deletion.

PURPOSE

To determine the prevalence of scoliosis in CHD patients with and without 22q11.2DS.

STUDY DESIGN/SETTING

Cross-sectional.

PATIENT SAMPLE

A well-characterized existing database of 315 adults with CHD (primarily tetralogy of Fallot), with (n=86) and without (n=229) 22q11.2DS, matched by sex and CHD severity, and excluding other known syndromic diagnoses. We compared the scoliosis prevalence of patients with 22q11.2DS and CHD patients to the prevalence of scoliosis in a cohort of adults with 22q11.2DS without CHD based on medical records.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Presence of scoliosis (Cobb angle ≥10°).

METHODS

We systematically determined the presence of scoliosis in all included patients using chest radiographs, blind to genetic diagnosis. Besides 22q11.2DS, we analyzed other suspected risk factors for scoliosis using a regression model: thoracotomy before the age of 12 years, severe CHD type and sex.

RESULTS

The prevalence of scoliosis in adults with CHD and 22q11.2DS (n=46, 53.5%) was significantly greater than in those without 22q11.2DS (n=18, 7.9%, p<.0001). The presence of a 22q11.2 deletion (odds ratio [OR] 25.4, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 11.2-57.4, p<.0001), a history of thoracotomy before the age of 12 years (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.6-8.1, p=.0027) and most complex CHD class (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.1-4.7, p=.0196), but not sex, were significant independent predictors of scoliosis. In the 22q11.2DS group, a right-sided aortic arch was associated with a left thoracic scoliotic curve (p=.036).

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of scoliosis in those with CHD but without a 22q11.2 deletion approximates that of the general population. However, in the CHD population with a 22q11.2 deletion, the prevalence of scoliosis approximates that of others with 22q11.2DS. The pediatric surgical approach and severity of CHD were weaker independent contributors as compared to the 22q11.2 deletion. The results support the importance of a genetic diagnosis of 22q11.2DS to the risk of developing scoliosis in individuals with CHD. The 22q11.2 deletion may represent a common etiopathogenetic pathway for both CHD and scoliosis, possibly involving early laterality mechanisms.

Prevalence of the thoracic scoliosis in children and adolescents candidates for strabismus surgery: results from a 1935-patient cross-sectional study in China

PURPOSE

No study so far has paid attention to strabismus-related spinal imbalance. This study aimed to determine the epidemiology of thoracic scoliosis in children and adolescents with strabismus and investigate the association of two diseases.

METHODS AND DESIGN

A cross-sectional study. Study group consists of 1935 consecutive candidates for strabismus surgery (4-18 years); Control group consists of the age- and sex-matched patients with respiratory diseases. All subjects underwent a screening program based on chest plain radiographs using the Cobb method. Their demographic information, clinical variables and results of Cobb angle were recorded and analyzed.

RESULTS

A significantly higher prevalence of thoracic scoliosis (289/1935, 14.94% versus 58/1935, 3.00%) was found in study group compared with control group. Among strabismic patients, the coronal thoracic scoliosis curve mainly distributed in right and in main thoracic (198/289) and in the curves 10°-19° (224/289); Age range 7-9 years (103/1935), female (179/1935) and concomitant exotropia patients (159/851) were more likely to have thoracic scoliosis. According to the logistic regression, thoracic scoliosis had no significant association with age, BMI, duration of illness and onset age (p > 0.05). However, gender, BCVA, type of strabismus and degree of strabismus showed a significant relationship with the prevalence of thoracic scoliosis (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

With a pooled prevalence of 14.94%, strabismus patients showed a great higher risk of developing thoracic scoliosis. Screening for scoliosis in strabismus patients can be helpful to discover a high prevalence of potential coronal scoliosis. More attention should be paid to ophthalmological problems in patients with scoliosis. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Scheuermann's disease in patients 15-40 years old: A study to determine its prevalence and its relationship with age and sex using chest radiographs as screening tool

BACKGROUND

There is insufficient knowledge of the epidemiology of Scheuermann's disease. The data available comes from estimations from young adults with obvious deformity, from studies evaluating children who may not have developed the deformity yet, or from older populations who can develop vertebral wedging secondary to other causes. We aimed to determine the prevalence of Scheuermann's disease in patients 15-40 years old using plain chest radiographs as a screening tool.

METHODS

We evaluated 454 patients aged 15-40 years old studied using standing plain chest radiographs. We measured thoracic kyphosis from T5 to T12; using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), we determined inter- and intra-observer agreement. To determine the prevalence of Scheuermann's disease we used the Sorensen criteria. We performed a correlation analysis of thoracic kyphosis and age, and a linear regression to determine the impact of age and sex on the kyphosis angle.

RESULTS

The prevalence of Scheuermann's disease was 2.2% (0.9-3.5%). The prevalence was not different in females (1.4%) and males (2.8%), p = 0.36. Inter-and intra-observer agreements were excellent: ICC = 0.93 (0.84-0.97) and 0.97 (0.95-0.98). There was a small positive correlation of kyphosis angle with age (r = 0.110; p = 0.019). Linear regression revealed that age (ß = 0.138; p = 0.019) was an independent predictor of kyphosis angle, but sex was not (ß-coefficient = 0.007; p = 0.994).

CONCLUSION

We found a prevalence of Scheuermann's disease of 2.2%, without significant differences between males and females. Age independently influenced the kyphosis angle; sex did not. This study allows a better understanding of the epidemiology of Scheuermann's disease.

Nonataxia symptoms in Friedreich Ataxia: Report from the Registry of the European Friedreich's Ataxia Consortium for Translational Studies (EFACTS)

OBJECTIVE

To provide a systematic evaluation of the broad clinical variability in Friedreich ataxia (FRDA), a multisystem disorder presenting mainly with afferent ataxia but also a complex phenotype of nonataxia symptoms.

METHODS

From the large database of the European Friedreich's Ataxia Consortium for Translational Studies, 650 patients with genetically confirmed FRDA were included. Detailed data of medical history documentation, questionnaires, and reports on clinical features were analyzed to provide in-depth description of the clinical profile and frequency rates of phenotypical features with a focus on differences between typical-onset and late-onset FRDA. Logistic regression modeling was used to identify predictors for the presence of the most common clinical features.

RESULTS

The most frequent clinical features beyond afferent ataxia were abnormal eye movements (90.5%), scoliosis (73.5%), deformities of the feet (58.8%), urinary dysfunction (42.8%), cardiomyopathy and cardiac hypertrophy (40.3%), followed by decreased visual acuity (36.8%); less frequent features were, among others, depression (14.1%) and diabetes (7.1%). Most of these features were more common in the typical-onset group compared to the late-onset group. Logistic regression models for the presence of these symptoms demonstrated the predictive value of GAA repeat length on the shorter allele and age at onset, but also severity of ataxia signs, sex, and presence of neonatal problems.

CONCLUSIONS

This joint European effort demonstrates the multisystem nature of this neurodegenerative disease encompassing most the central nervous, neuromuscular, cardiologic, and sensory systems. A distinct and deeper knowledge of this rare and chronic disease is highly relevant for clinical practice and designs of clinical trials.

A prevalence study of thoracic scoliosis in Chilean patients aged 10-20 years using chest radiographs as a screening tool

To determine the prevalence of thoracic scoliosis in patients 10-20 years old using radiographs as a screening tool, we studied 783 patients who obtained chest radiographs for nonspinal reasons. We measured thoracic curvature in coronal and sagittal planes; we determined whether age, sex, and sagittal curvature predicted the coronal curvature. The prevalence of scoliosis was 9.3%: 7.0% had curvatures 10°-20°; 1.0% had curvatures 20°-30°; and 1.3% had curvatures of at least 30°. Females (13%) presented larger prevalence of scoliosis than males (4.8%) (P<0.01), also with a larger proportion of larger curvatures. Sex and thoracic kyphosis were independent predictors of the coronal curvature, age was not.