Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

ScoliosisJournal published a new article regarding the determination of quality of life in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis subjected to conservative treatment. Authors: Angelo G Aulisa, Vincenzo Guzzanti, Carlo Perisano, Emanuele Marzetti, Alessandro Specchia, Marco Giordano and Lorenzo Aulisa Introduction and objectives. Physical deformities caused by adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) coupled with conservative treatment of AIS with orthesis unavoidably impacts on patients' quality of life (QoL). The present study aimed at evaluating the QoL in patients affected by AIS treated with brace. The study also sought to determine the ability of different QoL questionnaires to monitor QoL over the course of treatment. Materials and Methods. Data were collected in 108 consecutive patients (96 females, 16 males) affected by AIS admitted to the outpatient orthopaedic clinic of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome (Italy). Patients were subjected to full-time (i.e....

Scoliosis Journal have reported about the treatment of thoraco-lumbar curves in adolescent females affected by idiopathic Scoliosis with a progressive action short brace (PASB): assessment of results according to the SRS committee on bracing and nonoperative management standardization criteria. Authors: Angelo G. Aulisa, Vincenzo Guzzanti, Marco Galli, Carlo Perisano, Francesco Falciglia and Lorenzo Aulisa Published: 18 September 2009 Background The effectiveness of conservative treatment of scoliosis is controversial. Some studies suggest that brace is effective in stopping curve progression, whilst others did not report such an effect. The purpose of the present study was to effectiveness of Progressive Action Short Brace (PASB) in the correction of thoraco-lumbar curves, in agreement with the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) Committee on Bracing and Nonoperative Management Standardisation Criteria. Methods Fifty adolescent females (mean age 11.8 +/- 0.5 years) with thoraco-lumbar ...

In November, I mentioned that my elder daughter Ruth, aged 23, had just started on the scoliosis journey. She's now had an MRI scan and the results are back, she read them to me over the phone (she's not long moved in with her boyfriend, another story for another blog maybe) and she has an S-shaped thoracolumbar curve, if she told me the degree of curve I didn't take it in. I'm guessing that the reason it only showed up recently is that maybe an S-shaped curve can sort-of balance itself out appearance-wise, and what's happened now is that one of the curves has grown more than the other so that's no longer the case - does this make sense? The physio who assessed her doesn't think she should have surgery and that she should have some sort of physio treatment. Mind you, she has a new GP now and he/she may take a different view. This has upset me for all sorts of reasons, one of them is that I feel guilty and that it is all my fault for passing on the scoliosis....