Radiographic analysis and clinical significance of adolescent idiopathic cervical kyphosis

English Keywords:Cervical spine  Kyphosis  Deformity  Adolescent  Idiopathic  Image

English Abstract:

  【Abstract】 Objective：To investigate the radiographic characteristics and clinical significance of adolescent idiopathic cervical kyphosis and the reliability for evaluating cervical kyphosis．Method：Twenty-three adolescent patients with idiopathic cervical kyphosis were collected in this study．The causes of the disease remained unknown．The Cobb angle of kyphosis，posterior tangent angle of each segment，levels resulted in kyphosis and the apex of the kyphosis were measured on lateral radiographs．Kyphosis index（KI） and curvature index（CI） which were included were used to evaluate the severity of kyphosis．Result：Eleven（47．8%） patients had kyphosis level at C2-5，five（21．7%） at C2-6，and seven（30．4%） at C3-6．The mean vertebral number in kyphosis was 4．2（mean，3．2 levels）．The apex of the kyphosis was sited at C4（69．57%） in 16 patients and C5（30．43%） in 7 patients．Global Cobb angles（C2-C7） ranged from 4．7° to 68．3°（mean，35．6°±14．5°），and posterior tangent angle ranged from 9．8° to 75．1°（mean，37．1°±16．7°）．The Cobb angles of kyphosis ranged from 21．8° to 96．3°（mean，53．7°±19．7°） in two-line Cobb method，and 19．8° to 120．6°（mean，54．8°±23．9°） in Harrison posterior tangent method．CI ranged from 8．6 to 79．8（mean，37．7±20．5） and KI ranged from 15．2 to 141．9（mean，53．0±29．1），which showed significant positive correlation between KI and kyphosis angle．Conclusion：In adolescent idiopathic cervical kyphosis，the apex of kyphosis locates at the posterosuperior edge of vertebrae，and only part of vertebrae are involved.KI can accurately depict the severity of cervical kyphosis．