Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May;13(3):845-850.
doi: 10.1007/s43390-025-01041-y. Epub 2025 Jan 22.

The association of congenital diaphragmatic hernia with scoliosis

Michal Koziara  1 , Stuart Irvine  2 , Nicholas Wei  2 , Prasad Karpe  2 , Paul Rushton  3 , David Fender  3 , Bruce Jaffray  3
Affiliations

The association of congenital diaphragmatic hernia with scoliosis

Michal Koziara et al. Spine Deform. 2025 May.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of scoliosis in patients who have undergone surgical repair of CDH and attempt to assess the aetiology of scoliosis in affected cases.

Methods: A prospectively collected database of patients with CDH treated in a single centre between 1997 and 2023 was reviewed. Cases with adequate records who continued to reside locally having survived beyond age 2 and > 2 years following CDH repair were included. Congenital spinal abnormalities and scoliosis were diagnosed from imaging studies. In those who developed scoliosis, medical notes were reviewed to assess the aetiology of scoliosis and its treatment.

Results: 145 patients (92 male) who had undergone CDH repair were included. The median age at CDH repair was at 4 days. The mean time from CDH repair to this study was 14.1 years (2.0-26.2). 15 developed scoliosis (10.3%). In 8 cases, the scoliosis was considered a reflection of multisystem abnormalities including congenital vertebral anomalies in 3 cases (2%). In the 7 remaining cases the scoliosis had no obvious cause. Of those with scoliosis, to date, 3 have had surgical treatment with 1 awaiting surgery, 7 have not required scoliosis treatment and 4 have died.

Conclusions: Scoliosis is relatively common in those who have undergone CDH repair, typically presenting before age 10 years. Scoliosis when present was commonly part of a multisystem issue, with congenital vertebral anomalies rare. There appears no strong association between use of synthetic patch and scoliosis. Few children undergoing CDH repair will require treatment of a scoliosis.

Keywords: CDH; Congenital; Repair; Scoliosis; Syndromic; Thoracogenic.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Longoni M, Pober BR, High FA (1993) Congenital diaphragmatic hernia overview. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Bean LJ et al (eds) GeneReviews® [Internet]. University of Washington, Seattle
    1. Dumpa V, Chandrasekharan P (2024) Congenital diaphragmatic hernia. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. [Cited 25 Feb 2024]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556076/
    1. Aydın E, Özler O, Burns P, Lim FY, Peiró JL (2019) Left congenital diaphragmatic hernia-associated musculoskeletal deformities. Pediatr Surg Int 35(11):1265–1270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-019-04548-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kuklová P, Zemková D, Kyncl M, Pycha K, Straňák Z, Melichar J et al (2011) Large diaphragmatic defect: are skeletal deformities preventable? Pediatr Surg Int 27(12):1343–1349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-011-2973-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vanamo K, Peltonen J, Rintala R, Lindahl H, Jääskeläinen J, Louhimo I (1996) Chest wall and spinal deformities in adults with congenital diaphragmatic defects. J Pediatr Surg 31(6):851–854. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3468(96)90152-9 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources