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Juvenile Kyphosis (Scheuermann’s Disease)

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Spinal Disorders

Abstract

Scheuermann’s disease is a thoracic or thoracolumbar hyperkyphosis due to wedged vertebrae developing during adolescence. Ancient presentations of hyperkyphosis usually depict extreme gibbus formations as seen due to infection (tuberculosis) or congenital vertebral anomalies. Michelangelo—s ceiling fresco in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican shows an ignudo with a kyphosis resembling a thoracolumbar juvenile kyphosis (Fig. 1). It was painted in 1511 and is possibly the earliest pictorial representation of the disease [30]. Following Schanz, Haglund named the deformity “Lehrlingskyphose” (apprentice’s kyphosis) as it was detected mainly in youngsters involved in heavy labor [27, 61]. He saw the cause as muscular insufficiency and mechanical overloading during growth. Credit is due to Holger Werfel Scheuermann from Denmark for first describing it in 1920 as being different from mobile postural kyphosis [62, 63, 64]. He recognized from radiographs that the wedge vertebrae formation in the thoracic spine was the underlying reason for the deformity. Scheuermann was the first to describe its typical radiographic features and named it “osteochondritis deformans juvenilis dorsi”. The true incidence of juvenile kyphosis is not known. It ranges from 1% to 8%, being more common in boys than in girls (ratio 2/1 to 7/1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Orton Orthopaedic Hospital, Invalid Foundation, Tenholantie 10, 00280, Helsinki, Finland

    Dietrich Schlenzka

  2. Division of Scoliosis and Spine Surgery, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22908-0159, USA

    Vincent Arlet

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  1. Dietrich Schlenzka
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  1. Zentrum für Wirbelsäulen- und Rückenmarkchirurgie, Universität Zürich Universitätsklinik Balgrist, Forchstraße 340, 8008, Zürich, Switzerland

    Norbert Boos

  2. Institut für Evaluative Forschung in Orthopädischer Chirurgie MEM Forschungszentrum, Universität Bern, Stauffacherstraße 78, 3014, Bern, Switzerland

    Max Aebi

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Schlenzka, D., Arlet, V. (2008). Juvenile Kyphosis (Scheuermann’s Disease). In: Boos, N., Aebi, M. (eds) Spinal Disorders. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69091-7_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69091-7_28

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