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Surgical Scoliosis: when to operate

In the presence of a curve measuring more than 50 Cobb degrees, scoliosis is termed "surgical". Unfortunately, the likelihood of surgical scoliosis worsening, even in adults, and giving rise to pain, disability and reduced quality of life, is very high.

Being typically associated with a high potential for worsening, infantile and juvenile scoliosis have, in the past, always tended to be considered surgical cases from the outset.

Today, though, we know that there may be some hope of avoiding surgery in these cases...

Sforzesco: the video!

World Master: Rosemary Marchese's stay with Isico

The Sforzesco brace has two particular boasts: it is "made in Italy" and it is also tailor made.

It now features in a new video, created on the basis of a brief extract from a lesson given by Prof. Stefano Negrini during the 2018 World Master Course.

But this video isn't only about the brace and its characteristics; above all, it features patients who wear the Sforzesco and show that they can "do pretty much everything in it"!

Isico offers those taking its ONLINE MASTER COURSE the chance to see clinical practice in operation at our institute's Milan headquarters.
Rosemary Marchese, one of the 2019 course participants, decided to take advantage of this opportunity and flew over from Australia specially. While she was here, we decided to ask her about her experience.

Thank you for the chat, Rosemary!

SEAS: what do participants say?

What do participants expect from a SEAS course? And, afterwards, how do they rate the experience? After each course, we like to gather feedback from participants. Their opinions are very valuable, as they allow us to improve our organisation of these courses, and ensure that they are useful and relevant to the clinical practice of those taking part...

The SRS conference in Montreal: a report

In September, the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) held its 54th annual conference in Montreal, and Isico was there!

The SRS annual conference is one of the most important international meetings devoted to scoliosis, and every year over 1700 research studies are submitted to the organisers for consideration.

Despite this level of "competition", one of the papers presented by Isico was, for the fourth year running, selected as the topic of an oral presentation, which was given by Prof. Stefano Negrini...

Are X-rays harmful?

People's concerns over radiation exposure from X-rays are exaggerated. There was a time, in the early days of radiology, when the equipment used really was very harmful, because it used very high X-ray doses, and it was some considerable time before the risks were appreciated. Over the years, however, the technique has improved greatly, and today's X-ray machines are nothing like the ones that were used in previous decades...

Correlations between plumb line values and radiographic measurements:

a new study is published

An Isico study entitled "Clinical Evaluation of Spinal Coronal and Sagittal Balance in 584 Healthy Individuals: Normal Plumb Line Values and their Correlation with Radiographic Measurements" has just been published in the journal Physical Therapy.

The aim of the research was to assess plumb line distances (PDs) in a large, healthy population in an age range representative of the adolescent population with spinal deformities, and to correlate the resulting normative values with X-ray measurements...

Every year, the Scoliosis Study Group selects the best published papers on conservative spine treatment from the global scientific literature.
Here is the abstract from one of these papers.

Curve progression risk in a mixed series of braced and nonbraced patients with idiopathic scoliosis related to skeletal maturity assessment on the olecranon.

Dimeglio A

J Pediatr Orthop B. 2017 May;26(3):240-244. doi: 10.1097/BPB.0000000000000410.

Over the past 13 years or more, we have published dozens of posts and received thousands of comments on our blog dedicated to scoliosis that gives our patients a voice.

The Isico blog www.scoliosi.org is a dedicated space where patients can ask questions and swap experiences, but it is also a place where those involved in treating scoliosis can take a more in-depth look at a series of topics and also engage with patients.

Here is one of our published posts.

Will the hump disappear once the brace is on?

This question, together with others linked to aesthetic concerns, is often asked by parents and by youngsters about to start wearing a brace...

Prof. Negrini at ACRM in Chicago

Prof. Stefano Negrini, scientific director of Isico as well as director of the Cochrane Rehabilitation Field, will be leading a symposium at the 96th Annual American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine in Chicago...

SRS-SOSORT Patient Webinars!

Free View of Patient Webinars: all patients and colleagues can view the SOSORT (Society on Scoliosis Orthopedic and Rehabilitation) Patient Webinars.

Link to Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Webinar: https://youtu.be/NMaqu4IxZNY
Link to Adult Scoliosis Webinar:
https://youtu.be/k4xz-tgn1Us

Coming up

November, 20-23 - Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS) Instructional Course & Annual Meeting - New York, NY, USA
November, 21-22 - 13th International Congress on Early Onset Scoliosis (ICEOS) - Atlanta, GA, USA

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