Posterior hemivertebra resection and monosegmental fusion in the treatment of congenital scoliosis

INTRODUCTION: Posterior hemivertebra resection combined with multisegmental or bisegmental fusion has been applied successfully for congenital scoliosis. However, there are several immature bones and their growth can be influenced by long segmental fusion in congenital patients. Posterior hemivertebra resection and monosegmental fusion was therefore suggested for treatment of congenital scoliosis caused by hemivertebra. METHODS: Between June 2001 and June 2010, 60 congenital scoliosis patients (aged 2–18 years) who underwent posterior hemivertebra resection and monosegmental fusion were enrolled in our study. A standing anteroposterior x-ray of the whole spine was obtained preoperatively, postoperatively and at the last follow-up appointment to analyse the Cobb angle in the coronal and sagittal planes as well as the trunk shift. RESULTS: The mean preoperative coronal plane Cobb angle was 41.6º. This was corrected to 5.1º postoperatively and 5.3º at the last follow-up visit (correction 87.3%). The compensatory cranial curve was improved from 18.1º preoperatively to 7.1º postoperatively and 6.5º at the last follow-up visit while the compensatory caudal curve was improved from 21.5º to 6.1º after surgery and 5.6º at the last follow-up visit. The mean sagittal plane Cobb angle was 23.3º before surgery, 7.3º after surgery and 6.8º at the last follow-up visit (correction 70.1%). The trunk shift of 18.5mm was improved to 15.2mm. CONCLUSIONS: Posterior hemivertebra resection and monosegmental fusion seems to be an effective approach for treatment of congenital scoliosis caused by hemivertebra, allowing for excellent correction in both the frontal and sagittal planes.