The Natural History of Untreated Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

The authors from the Universities of Iowa and Southern California report a 50-year prospective study of a cohort of untreated patients with late-onset idiopathic scoliosis (LIS), defined as a structural lateral spinal curvature occurring during puberty in otherwise healthy adolescents. The diagnosis of LIS was made at the University of Iowa between 1932 and 1948. One hundred seventeen of 314 eligible patients comprised the study group. Their mean age was 66 years. Follow-up studies of this cohort were reported at 30 and 40 years. For this study, 62 age- and sex-matched controls were included. Outcome measures were mortality, pulmonary symptoms, general function, depression, and body image. Data from the 30- and 40-year follow-up studies were used for longitudinal comparisons. Radiographic and physical examinations were …