A new study published in Spinal Deformity examines the association between the cervical spine alignment and Lenke type for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
The study included stratified random sampling from 3,654 full-length preoperative lateral films of patients in a multicenter database of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients who were treated surgically. There were 387 females and 84 males selected randomly from the films.
The researchers found:
1. There was significantly less cervical kyphosis in patient with Lenke 3 or Lenke 4 curves and more kypohsis in Lenke 1, Lenke 2, Lenke 5 and Lenke 6 curves.
2. There weren't any significant differences reported in C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis distances.
3. The patients with AIS appeared to compensate for abnormal thoracic sagittal alignment with changes in cervical sagittal alignment, concluded the study authors. "This seems intuitive for Lenke 1 and 2 curves in which surgical restoration of thoracic kyphosis is a recognized goal and has been shown to improve alignment."
4. There was cervical kyphosis in Lenke 5 and Lenke 6 as well, suggesting a need to consider compensatory thoracic and cervical sagittal alignment during surgical planning.
5. The patients with Lenke 3 and Lenke 4 curves showed more normal alignment, suggesting the major portion of the curve located in the middle of the spine allowed it to maintain more normal sagittal alignment.