Congential scoliosis in Wilson’s disease: case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Wilson’s disease (WD) is an autosomal recessive disorder of copper metabolism, which leads to the accumulation of this metal in liver, brain, cornea and kidney. Little is reported about spinal deformity associated with this syndrome. This study is to present a case of thoracic kyphosis occurring in the setting of Wilson’disease and explore the possible association between the two diseases. CASE PRESENTATION: Case report and literature review. A previously unreported thoracic kyphosis in Wislon’s disease is decribed. The patient was a 7-year-old Chinese female that underwent a posterior correction, using the Moss-SI spinal system performed at Thoracic 9-Lumbar 1 (T9-L1) levels. At 16-month follow-up, the patient was clinically pain free and well balanced. Plain radiographs showed solid spine fusion with no loss of deformity correction. After evaluating 211 WD patients referred to Peking Union Medical College Hospital from February 1991 to February 2012, the prevalence of congential scoliosis among patients with WD was 5.21% (11/211), much higher than that among general population (1/1000). CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of WD with thoracic kyphosis. During sugery, surgeons and anesthesiologists must pay particular attention to the abnormal liver and brain function associated with WD. The prevalence of scoliosis is much higher among patients with WD, indicating a potential association between congential scoliosis and WD. However, the exact mechanism how copper-chelating agents induce scoliosis is unclear.