Idiopathic scoliosis

Last revised by Henry Knipe on 14 Sep 2021

Idiopathic scoliosis describes scoliosis that has no clinically or radiologically identifiable underlying cause. It is the dominant type of scoliosis with ~80% of all scolioses being idiopathic.

Pathology

Idiopathic scoliosis can be classified by age into:

Adolescent and juvenile idiopathic scoliosis is more common in girls and tends to have a right thoracic curve (dextroscoliosis). There may be an additional thoracolumbar curve and sometimes a cervicothoracic curve. Infantile idiopathic scoliosis is more common in boys and they tend to have a left thoracic scoliosis (levoscoliosis).

ADVERTISEMENT: Supporters see fewer/no ads

Updating… Please wait.

 Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

 Thank you for updating your details.