What does scoliosis look like?

  Chen XX, female, 12 years old, was admitted to the hospital with the main reason of “thoracic back deformity found for 4 years, progressive aggravation for 2 years”.  Basic information at the time of admission: I. In 2009, the deformity of the thoracic back was discovered by chance while bathing, and was diagnosed as scoliosis, and received orthopedic brace treatment for 1 year, but the deformity did not improve significantly. The deformity developed gradually without obvious pain in the thoracic back, no chest tightness after a lot of activities, able to participate in normal sports activities, and no numbness and pain in the lower limbs. In the last 2 years, the deformity was significantly aggravated.  The right shoulder was higher than the left shoulder by about 50 px. The thoracic segment of the spine was convex to the right, and the right back showed a razorback-like deformity. The iliac spine was equal in height on both sides. No skin pigmentation plaques, no subcutaneous lipomas, no spina bifida were seen on the chest, abdomen and back. The thoracic segment of the spine was convex to the right, and there was no pressure pain or percussion pain, no conduction pain or radiating pain in the whole spinal spine, and no diminished superficial skin sensation. Active and passive movement of the whole spine was free, bilateral hip, knee and ankle joints moved well, and there was no significant abnormality in muscle strength and muscle tone of the lower limbs bilaterally. The body standing height was 170 cm, sitting height (from hip to head in sitting position) was 89 cm, the vertical line of occipital ridge in standing position fell in the basic middle of the hip sulcus, the bilateral Hoffman’s sign was negative, and Babinski’s sign was negative.  Third, auxiliary examinations: MRI (outside hospital 2013-06-16): scoliosis deformity, spinal cord longitudinal bifida.  Admission diagnosis: scoliosis standing spine full-length film: thoracic segment of the spine with thoracic 8 vertebrae as the apex to the right side of the convex deformity, Cobb angle of about 78 °. The thoracolumbar segment of the spine has a thoracic 11 vertebral body as the apex of the left-sided convex deformity, with a Cobb angle of about 50°. Risser’s sign grade 4.  Treatment plan: posterior orthopedic spinal deformity, internal fixation with nail bar system and bone graft fusion was performed under general anesthesia.  Orthopedic segments: thoracic 4 – lumbar 1; thoracic 5 – 10 upper and lower synovial osteotomies were released.  Condition at discharge: good general condition, no fever, good healing of the incision, no redness, swelling and exudation. The spinal curvature recovered significantly after the operation.  The spine was well aligned and the position of the internal fixation was normal on the postoperative follow-up X-ray.  Discharge diagnosis: scoliosis.