Epidemiological and diagnostic characteristics of scoliosis in children in a single tertiary centre in Abidjan

Abstract

Introduction: Scoliosis is the most frequent spine deformity in children. Epidemiological data are available in Western countries due to the systematic screening policies implemented at school. Unfortunately, in our country, there are neither national data nor screening policy for scoliosis. Are the epidemiological and diagnostic characteristics of scoliosis in our practice similar to the data in the literature?

Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 106 medical records of patients under 19 years old between 2010 and 2019 at the 'Vivre Debout' Centre for structural scoliosis confirmed by spine X-ray with a Cobb angle ≥10°. The epidemiological and diagnostic characteristics were noted. The data were treated with Excel 2010.

Results: The mean frequency of scoliosis was 10 cases/year. The male-to-female sex ratio was 1:1.3. The mean age at diagnosis was 11.2 ± 2.13 years. There was a family history of scoliosis in two cases (1.8%). Twenty-four girls (39.3%) out of 61 had had menarche at the time of diagnosis. The mean time from noticing deformity to consultation was 17.9 ± 21.9 months. Lateral deviation of the spine (n = 77; 72.6%), hump (n = 12; 11.3%) and pain (n = 3; 2.8%) were the main complaints for consultation. In 14 cases (13.2%), the discovery was fortuitous during a medical examination for another complaint. The curvature was single in 88 cases (83%) and double in 18 (17%). The convexity was right in 69 cases (65.1%) and left in 37 (34.9%). Curvatures were thoracic (n = 57; 53.8%), lumbar (n = 10; 9.4%) and thoracolumbar (n = 39; 36.8%). The average Cobb angle was 35.2° ±10.71° (range: 11°-90°). Curvatures were moderate (20°-40°) in 49 cases (46.2) and severe (>40°) in 18 (17%). The aetiologies were predominated by idiopathic causes (n = 79; 74.5%), followed by congenital (n = 16; 15.1%) and neuromuscular (n = 11; 10.4%) causes.

Conclusion: Scoliosis is uncommon in our practice. It is characterised by single curvature. The predominance of moderate and severe curvatures was due to delayed consultation.

Keywords: Child; cobb angle; hump; scoliosis.