Untreated Early Onset Scoliosis - The Natural Progression of a Debilitating and Ultimately Deadly Disease

An early onset idiopathic scoliosis refers to idiopathic deformity that presents itself from birth to ten years of age and includes an infantile type (identified from birth to three years of age) and a juvenile type (identified from three to ten years of age). In contrast to adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (identified from ten years of age to the age of skeletal maturity), the juvenile idiopathic scoliosis patients, especially male, have a much higher risk of large curve development, since deformity occurs at a younger age and thus has a longer growth potential. Males are on average diagnosed earlier and become skeletally mature at a later age than females (Lenke & Dobbs, 2007). While some juvenile curves spontaneously regress, approximately 70% of them progress and ultimately require some form of treatment, either observation, orthotic management or surgical correction, with each treatment form being used at different Cobb angle intervals and progression landmarks. The absence of treatment for progressive early onset scoliosis usually results in severe adult idiopathic scoliosis, a condition that reduces quality of life, endangers general health and may ultimately lead to serious cardiopulmonary complications and premature death.