Magnetic resonance imaging
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Correlations between intervertebral disc degeneration and bone mass were investigated previously, but never on scoliotic patients. Using MRI measurements of intervertebral discs behavior and vertebral bone tomodensitometry, correlations between nucleus zone displacement within intervertebral discs and mechanical center migration within vertebral bodies were investigated in vivo on scoliotic patients. The protocol, performed on eleven scoliotic girls, was composed of a CT scan acquisition of apical and adjacent vertebrae followed by a MRI acquisition of the thoracolumbar spine. ⋯ The nucleus zone migration occurred in the convexity of the curvature whereas the mechanical migration occurred in the concavity. Known secondary mechanical phenomenon of scoliosis was quantified using new parameters describing intervertebral discs and vertebral bodies. Further investigations should be performed to explain the mechanical evolution of scoliosis and to use these parameters in predictive criteria of scoliosis.