Scoliosis Causes

Children or adolescents who are diagnosed often have a form of the disorder called adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, with the cause of the curvature unknown. This type of scoliosis affects children between 10 and 18 years of age and does affect girls more than boys.

Most adults with scoliosis also have an idiopathic form where the cause is unknown. Some adults, however, have degenerative adult scoliosis that can be caused by degeneration, osteoporosis or osteomalacia - a softening of the bones.

Scoliosis can also appear following spinal surgery to treat other conditions, it can occur after a spinal cord injury and spinal fractures that occur without an injury can also result in curvatures. Patients who had polio through the 1950s are also now experiencing adult scoliosis as a result of their paralysis.

Scoliosis does tend to run in families, but have different effects in each generation. You may have a mother with a mild curve who has a daughter with a very severe curve or you may have a grandmother with a severe curve whose grandchildren have scoliosis but her children did not.

Research is being done to identify the specific genes associated with scoliosis. We hope to be better able to predict which curves are at highest risk for progression based on a patient’s specific genetic markers.