The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 75, Issue 4 514-518, Copyright © 1993 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Scoliosis in children after thoracotomy for aortic coarctation
FC Van Biezen, PA Bakx, VH De Villeneuve and WC Hop
University Hospital Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
A follow-up study was performed to assess the prevalence of scoliosis in
160 patients in whom aortic coarctation had been treated operatively
through a left posterolateral incision in the fourth intercostal space.
Scoliosis had not been seen in any patient before the thoracotomy, but a
scoliosis of 10 degrees or more was observed in thirty-five patients (22
per cent) at the follow-up examination, which was performed an average of
seven years after the thoracotomy. The scoliosis was a thoracic curve and
was directed to the left in twenty-six of the thirty-five patients. Most of
the curves were mild (between 10 and 20 degrees) and hardly progressed
during the follow-up period. The high-risk period for the onset of
scoliosis began about three years after the operation. The prevalence of
scoliosis did not correlate significantly with the age or sex of the
patients.
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