Following is the abstract from an interesting paper that was just published. I'm not posting this to convince anyone to decide that their child should have surgery. Death from scoliosis is very rare.
J Spinal Disord Tech. 2004 Oct;17(5):446-450. Related Articles, Links
A Tale of Two Brothers: Ultra-Long-Term Follow-Up of Juvenile Idiopathic Scoliosis.
Winter RB.
Department of Orthopeadic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; Twin Cities Spine Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Research Department, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, St. Paul, MN.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to demonstrate the life-saving benefit of spine fusion for progressive juvenile idiopathic scoliosis. A follow-up of this duration (73 years) has never been previously reported. RESULTS: The properly treated patient is alive and well 73 years after surgery, but the brother whose curve was ignored died of cor pulmonale at age 45. CONCLUSIONS: Properly done spine fusion can save the life of children with progressive juvenile idiopathic scoliosis.
J Spinal Disord Tech. 2004 Oct;17(5):446-450. Related Articles, Links
A Tale of Two Brothers: Ultra-Long-Term Follow-Up of Juvenile Idiopathic Scoliosis.
Winter RB.
Department of Orthopeadic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; Twin Cities Spine Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Research Department, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, St. Paul, MN.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to demonstrate the life-saving benefit of spine fusion for progressive juvenile idiopathic scoliosis. A follow-up of this duration (73 years) has never been previously reported. RESULTS: The properly treated patient is alive and well 73 years after surgery, but the brother whose curve was ignored died of cor pulmonale at age 45. CONCLUSIONS: Properly done spine fusion can save the life of children with progressive juvenile idiopathic scoliosis.
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