• Max Prost, Joachim Windolf, and Markus Rafael Konieczny.
• Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. Max.prost@med.uni-duesseldorf.de.
• Eur Spine J. 2021 Dec 1; 30 (12): 3490-3497.

PurposeThere is no data that show if it is possible to determine if a curve is structural or non-structural or to assess flexibility of an adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) by recumbent images like a CT scan (CTS) instead of bending radiographs (BR). We investigated if the results of BR may be compared to those of CTS.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed prospectively collected data of patients with AIS in whom a selective spinal fusion was performed and in whom a CTS, BR, and full spine x-rays were made preoperatively. We measured the Cobb angles of the main and the minor curve in full spine x-ray, BR, and CTS.ResultsAfter applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 39 patients were included. We found a strong correlation (r = 0.806, p < 0.01) between the Cobb angle of the main curve in BR and the Cobb angle of the main curve in the CTS and between the Cobb angle of the minor curve in BR and the Cobb angle of the minor curve in the CTS (r = 0.601, p < 0.01). All patients with a minor curve of less than 25 degrees in the BR had a Cobb angle of less than 35 degrees in the CTS.ConclusionSpinal curves showed a significant correlation between bending radiographs and recumbent images (CTS). In our group of patients, a Cobb angle of the minor curve of less than 35 degrees in the CTS indicated that this minor curve was non-structural.© 2021. The Author(s).

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