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Assessing clinical trunk change with surface topography: anterior scoliosis correction as a model to evaluate curve progression

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Abstract

Purpose

Previous work has suggested that surface topography can be used for repeated measurements of deformity during curve monitoring following an initial radiograph. Changes in deformity during natural curve progression may be subtle. An important preemptive question to answer is whether topography can follow a large change in spine deformity, as in scoliosis correction. We assess the ability of surface topography to track the evolution of spine deformity during anterior scoliosis correction relative to traditional radiographs. Anterior scoliosis correction was chosen for this analysis because it changes the shape of the trunk without leaving a surgical scar and muscle atrophy along the posterior spine.

Methods

Following IRB approval, 18 patients aged 14.6 ± 2.0 years at surgery were enrolled in a retrospective review of coronal radiographs and topographic scans acquired before and after scoliosis correction. Radiographic and topographic measures for the coronal curve angle before and after surgery were compared.

Results

Surface topography estimates correlate with radiographic measures of the pre- (r = 0.7890, CI = [0.4989 0.9201], p < 0.00001), postsurgical (r = 0.7485, CI = [0.4329 0.9006], p = 0.0004), and the change in the coronal curve angle (r = 0.6744, CI = [0.3028 0.8680], p = 0.0021) due to surgery.

Conclusions

We provide evidence open for further extension that topography can follow changes in the coronal curve angle comparably to radiographs.

Level of Evidence

Level IV.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Samantha Thompson for her support and guidance with the DIERS Formetric 4D technology.

Funding

The Pediatric Spine Foundation kindly supported the Institute for Spine and Scoliosis with financial resources for use of the DIERS equipment and for personnel support.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Alekhya Madiraju and Patrick J. Mulcahey Co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute for Spine and Scoliosis, 3100 Princeton Pike Bldg. 1-D, Lawrenceville, NJ, 08648, USA

    Alekhya Madiraju, Patrick J. Mulcahey, Allison R. Haas, Laury A. Cuddihy, M. Darryl Antonacci & Randal R. Betz

  2. Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, 3333 Green Bay Road, North Chicago, IL, 60064, USA

    Patrick T. Knott

Authors
  1. Alekhya Madiraju
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  2. Patrick J. Mulcahey
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  3. Patrick T. Knott
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  4. Allison R. Haas
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  5. Laury A. Cuddihy
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  6. M. Darryl Antonacci
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  7. Randal R. Betz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Randal R. Betz.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors wish to disclose that PTK is a consultant for DIERS International GmbH. PTK provided conceptual input and statistical consult for this study but was not present for any session of data collection. AM, PJM, ARH, LAC, MDA, and RRB have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to this paper. IRB approval statement: Study was approved by St. Peter’s Hospital IRB in New Brunswick, NJ.

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Madiraju, A., Mulcahey, P.J., Knott, P.T. et al. Assessing clinical trunk change with surface topography: anterior scoliosis correction as a model to evaluate curve progression. Eur Spine J 30, 3533–3539 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-021-06998-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-021-06998-8

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