Thoracic Scoliosis Screening in Adolescent Patients with Chest Radiographs

Aim: School scoliosis screening programs (SSSPs) are valuable and common tools to depict scoliosis prevalence and to take appropriate measures to prevent scoliosis. Prevalence of small angle scoliosis (10-20 degrees) could be underestimated via SSSPs due to inter-rater variability of the physical examination after which possible candidates are sent to radiographic work-up. In this study, we aimed to detect the prevalence of thoracic scoliosis in adolescent patients via analysis of posteroanterior chest radiographs. Methods: Adolescent patients, who had been admitted for reasons other than spine and whose posteroanterior chest radiographs had been obtained, were included in the study. Demographics and chest radiographs were screened through picture archiving and communication system of the hospital. Results: Chest radiographs of 326 (163 female, 163 male) adolescents were evaluated (mean age: 15.54 +/- 2.12 years; mean coronal Cobb angle: 5.25 +/- 7.14 degrees). Thoracic scoliosis was present in 7.36% (sixteen female, eight male) of the adolescents. Thoracic scoliosis was more prevalent in females, yet the difference was insignificant (9.82% vs 4.91%; p=0.09). Females and males were similar in respect of age and coronal Cobb angle (mean age: 15.00 +/- 1.41 vs 16.00 +/- 0 years, p=0.96; mean Cobb angle: 12,30 +/- 14.43 degrees vs 7.00 +/- 7.60 degrees, p=0.19). Conclusion: Chest radiographs could be adjuvant to SSSPs in determining the true prevalence of scoliosis in the populations.