Frequency and characteristics of congenital intraspinal abnormalities in a cohort of 128 patients with congenital scoliosis

Abstract

Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine the incidence and main characteristics of associated intraspinal anomalies in patients with congenital scoliosis (CS) and to analyze the different factors that influence the curve progression. Design: This was a retrospective comparative study. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 128 patients with CS. Main Outcome Measurements: The incidence of the patients with intraspinal anomalies and their demographic, clinical, and radiological values was described. Results: Intraspinal anomalies were present in 13.3% of the patients. Among them, the most frequent anomaly was syringomyelia. The most frequent curve was the thoracic curve. The main deformity based on McMaster classification was formation failure. The curve progression during follow-up did not show significant differences between vertebral anomalies, syringomyelia, presence of thoracic anomalies, and gender (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Our study showed a lower percentage of spinal anomalies compared to other series. As other studies, the progression of the scoliosis curve in patients with spinal anomalies seems primarily to be determined by the type of vertebral malformation. Level of Evidence: Level II.