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Review
. 2023 Apr;13(3):897-909.
doi: 10.1177/21925682221130060. Epub 2022 Sep 27.

Hemivertebra Resection in Small Children. A Literature Review

Sofía Frank  1 , Lucas Piantoni  1 , Carlos A Tello  1 , Rodrigo G Remondino  1 , Eduardo Galaretto  1 , Boris A Falconi  1 , Mariano A Noel  1
Affiliations
Review

Hemivertebra Resection in Small Children. A Literature Review

Sofía Frank et al. Global Spine J. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

Study design: Systematic review.

Objective: To evaluate the lowest possible age to resect an HV in very young patients with a congenital deformity.

Methods: We sought to retrieve all studies reporting age at HV excision in patients with congenital scoliosis. Studies written in English were included. No publication date restrictions were imposed. A search of the PubMed and LiLacs databases was conducted. Additionally, a hand search was performed to supplement the database search.

Results: We found 140 articles. Twenty two studies were included into the final assessment. There was considerable heterogeneity in the included studies, both regarding age and the surgical techniques used. There was also a broad spectrum of recommendations regarding suggested age for treatment. The youngest patient undergoing resection and fusion was 3 months of life at the time of surgery.

Conclusion: How young a patient could and should be submitted to HV resection surgery is still a matter of debate in the literature. Prophylactic surgery might be a proper treatment for young children with congenital scoliosis before malformation becomes a deformity, adding no additional neurological, vascular, or anesthesia-related complications. The defect can be treated early while the deformity is treated late.

Keywords: age at surgery; congenital scoliosis; hemivertebra resection; immature spine; pedicle screw fixation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram for systematic reviews which included searches of databases and registers.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Dispersion age of the different series.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Recommendations age according to the authors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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