J Korean Soc Spine Surg.  2001 Mar;8(1):15-20.

Clinical Features of Degenerative Scoliosis

• Kim YT
• Lee CS
• Kim JH
• Kim JM
• Park JH

Abstract

PURPOSE: To describe and analyze the clinical features of degenerative scoliosis so that we could guess the pathogenesis of the disease.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty-eight adults with degenerative scoliosis were reviewed. We evaluated the symptoms and physi-cal findings. Simple radiographs of the lumbar spine and MRI films were investigated.
RESULTS
All patients had low-back pain, and eleven of them had severe low-back pain. Forty-six patients(96%) had lower extremity symptoms, and 80% of them had severe symptoms. The mean curve was 18 dgrees (range, 11o-44 dgrees). The mean lordosis was 2 7 dgrees (range, -16 dgrees -+ 45 dgrees). The frequency of significant degenerative change was highest in the low- lumbar region. Stenosis detected on MRI was present in the low-lumbar area in most cases and a limited number of cases revealed stenosis on the mid-lumbar area. The most frequent incidence of stenosis was at L4-5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: The frequency of degenerative change was highest in the low-lumbar region and significant cases revealed degenerative change only in low-lumbar area. This may imply that degeneration and instability of low-lumbar area can cause secondary biomechanical compensation at above levels, resulting in scoliosis and degenerative change.

Keyword

Degenerative lumbar scoliosis; Clinical features

MeSH Terms

Adult
Animals
Compensation and Redress
Constriction, Pathologic
Humans
Incidence
Lordosis
Lower Extremity
Lumbosacral Region
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Scoliosis*
Spine

Figure

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  Fig. 1. These radiographs of a patient with scoliosis show typical pathologies of degenerative scoliosis including scoliosis, tilt, rotation of vertebral bodies, lateral subluxation and olisthesis.

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