During the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) congress, held in Bologna, Italy, in October, Isico provided an update on a new SRS-funded study that aims to identify a model for predicting the progression of scoliotic curves in untreated patients. The project, which is being conducted in collaboration with Dr Eric Parent of the University of Alberta, Canada, got under way last April and will last a couple of years.

Dr Francesca Di Felice, a physician and researcher at Isico, explains: “This is a longitudinal retrospective study which draws on the clinical data in our archive from 2003 through to today. There are thousands of patients and radiographs in our database, and in this study we are including all patients affected by idiopathic scoliosis, in any of its three forms (infantile, juvenile and adolescent, i.e., up to 18 years), who underwent multiple radiographic evaluations prior to embarking on this therapeutic course. The pre-treatment radiographic studies provide information on the natural progression of the condition. By collecting and analysing these data, we expect to be able to trace predictive models that will help us understand how curves progress when they are not treated, and also verify the effectiveness of the treatments themselves.”

The SRS has recognised the soundness both of the research design and the methodology being used, as well as the usefulness of the study. Better understanding of how idiopathic scoliosis can progress will allow physicians and patients to make more informed treatment decisions.