This localized deformity is usually painless. Treatment is dependent upon the magnitude of the deformity, pain complaints and patient maturity. Surgery is rarely required. A subtype of Scheuermann's disease occurs in the lumbar spine, usually in male patients during late adolescence who are involved in heavy lifting tasks. The changes of the vertebra and disc are considered to reflect the physical stress effects.
Treatment is by elimination of the offending activity.
Deformities due to congenital vertebral formation failure are predictably progressive and require early surgical treatment. Because of potential associated renal anomalies, renal ultrasonographic assessment is recommended. Summary Spinal deformity is due to a myriad of causes. Scoliosis, kyphosis and lordosis are descriptive and not diagnostic terms and efforts must be made to establish the deformity's cause. The etiology of the most common type of spinal deformity, adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, is unknown, but it is strongly familial.