The kyphoscoliosis patient has a spine that causes him or her to be slightly hunched over and bent to one side. There are many degrees of kyphoscoliosis. The most severe spinal curvatures can lead to lung disease, respiratory failure, and death. Over many years this can eventually cause respiratory failure. Fortunately, most patients with kyphoscoliosis do not end up with chronic lung disease and respiratory failure.
Obesity is a common and widespread condition.
When patients with morbid obesity are studied in the pulmonary laboratory, their routine breathing tests and blood gas analysis are usually normal or near normal. However, some massively obese patients do manifest respiratory impairment, for which there are several possible explanations. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that excess weight of the chest wall caused by the fat makes it difficult to take a deep breath. Also the massive weight of the abdominal fat makes it difficult to move the diaphragms. However, weight alone cannot be the only explanation for respiratory impairment, since patients equally overweight often have very different breathing test results.