Three-Dimensional Characterization of Torsion and Asymmetry of the Intervertebral Discs Versus Vertebral Bodies in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (original) (raw)

Study Design. Cross-sectional study. Objective. To compare the relative contribution of the vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs with the 3-dimensional spinal deformity in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Summary of Background Data. There is an ongoing discussion about the causal role of skeletal growth processes in the etiopathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Contradictory fi ndings have been reported on the individual contribution of the vertebral bodies as compared with the discs to the coronal deformity. As far as we know, the true 3-dimensional deformity of the discs and vertebral bodies have not yet been described. Methods. High-resolution computed tomographic scans of 77 patients with severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were included. Torsion and anterior-posterior and right-left asymmetry of each individual vertebral body and intervertebral disc were studied from T2 to L5, using semiautomatic analysis software. True transverse sections were reconstructed along the anterior-posterior and rightleft axis of all endplates. These "endplate-vectors" were calculated semiautomatically, taking rotation and tilt into account. Torsion was l.