Will RE, Stokes IA, Qiu X et al. Spine 2009;34:2782–6.
This study performed in adolescent girls undergoing their growth spurt demonstrated that the source of early rapid scoliosis progression is the surrounding soft tissues rather than concave vertebral endplate growth inhibition.
The progression of scoliosis during the adolescent growth spurt is not well understood. Furthermore, the relative contribution of the vertebrae and the intervertebral discs has not previously been investigated. In this study, the authors examined a cohort of 22 girls with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis as they went through their growth spurt. Of these girls, 18 underwent >10° progression of their curves and were included in the final analysis. The initial mean age was 10.8 years, the final mean age was 14.5 years, and the mean follow-up was 3.7 years.