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Radiation-free quantitative assessment of scoliosis: a multi center prospective study

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Abstract

Accurate quantitative measurements of the spine are essential for deformity diagnosis and assessment of curve progression. There is much concern related to the multiple exposures to ionizing radiation associated with the Cobb method of radiographic measurement, currently the standard procedure for diagnosis and follow-up of the progression of scoliosis. In addition, the Cobb method relies on 2-D analysis of a 3-D deformity. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the clinical value of Ortelius800TM that provides a radiation-free method for scoliosis assessment in three planes (coronal, sagittal, apical), with simultaneous automatic calculation of the Cobb angle in both coronal and sagittal views. Analysis of the clinical value of the device for assessing spinal deformities was performed on patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, deformity angles ranging from 10° to 48°. Correlation between Cobb angles measured manually on standard erect posteroanterior radiographs and those calculated by Ortelius800TM showed an absolute difference between the measurements to be significantly less than ± 5° for coronal measurements and significantly less than ± 6° for sagittal measurements indicating good correlation between the two methods. The measurements from four independent sites and six independent examiners were not significantly different. We found the novel clinical tool to be reliable for following mild and moderate idiopathic curves in both coronal and sagittal planes, without exposing the patient to ionizing radiation. Considering the need for further validation of this new method, any change in treatment protocol should still be based on radiographic control.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Dana Children’s Hospital - Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Dror Ovadia & Shlomo Wientroub

  2. Rabin Medical Center, Pediatric Orthopaedics Unit, Schneider Children’s Hospital, Petach Tiqwa, Israel

    Elhanan Bar-On

  3. Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Hopital St. Vincent de Paul, Paris, France

    Bruno Fragnière & Jean Dubousset

  4. Instituto E. Salva, Barcelona, Spain

    Manuel Rigo

  5. OrthoScan Technologies, Rosh Pina, Israel

    Dalia Dickman

  6. Spine Unit, Meir Hospital, Kfar Saba, Israel

    Joseph Leitner

Authors
  1. Dror Ovadia
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  2. Elhanan Bar-On
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  3. Bruno Fragnière
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  4. Manuel Rigo
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  5. Dalia Dickman
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  6. Joseph Leitner
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  7. Shlomo Wientroub
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  8. Jean Dubousset
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Correspondence to Dror Ovadia.

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Ovadia, D., Bar-On, E., Fragnière, B. et al. Radiation-free quantitative assessment of scoliosis: a multi center prospective study. Eur Spine J 16, 97–105 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-006-0118-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-006-0118-8

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