Scoliosis can be caused by bad posture, muscle spasms, or psychogenic factors. Rarely, metabolic disorders, such as Prader-Willi syndrome can result in scoliosis. Most cases of scoliosis are idiopathic.
Idiopathic scoliosis appears to have a genetic predisposition.
More common in females. The spine is normally straight in the coronal plane. In the sagittal plane, there normally is kyphosis in the thoracic area and lordosis in the cervical and lumbar areas. Abnormal curvature in the sagittal plane is referred to as kyphosis. There is no specific histological alteration in kyphosis or scoliosis.