Good News for Scoliosis Patients
Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) have some good news for scoliosis patients who are concerned for their offspring.
The new study, “Scoliosis severity does not impact the risk of scoliosis in family members,” appears in the March 2018 edition of the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics B.
Matthew B. Dobbs, M.D., orthopedic surgeon at WUSTL and co-author on the study, told OTW, “This study developed after an inquisitive undergraduate student approached us about working in our musculoskeletal genetics laboratory.”
“This student, who is also a co-author of the paper, had previously had surgery for scoliosis, and was interested in knowing whether the severity of his scoliosis would influence his risk of having children with scoliosis. Engaging stakeholders in research is important, as they often direct us to the most salient questions.”
“As part of our large genetic study of scoliosis, we had collected more than 1,200 pedigrees from patients with scoliosis to evaluate. Because this study is done in the modern treatment era when bracing is standard treatment for scoliosis, we are limited by evaluating scoliosis progression in this context.”
“Overall, on a population level, individuals with surgically treated scoliosis are no more likely than those with nonsurgically treated scoliosis, of having either an affected relative or a surgically treated relative.”
“This study, along with others that have found similar results, can be reassuring to surgically treated patients who worry about the risks of their children requiring similar treatments. In our cohort, we found only <2% of our surgically treated patients had a parent or child with surgically treated scoliosis.”
“Epidemiological and genetic studies are beginning to accumulate data that suggest that the risks for scoliosis may indeed be independent from the risk for scoliosis progression. Ongoing work in our research lab and others around the country may soon identify the individual risk factors for curve progression that will allow for better prognosis and preventive treatment of scoliosis.”
