ABSTRACT
The association between scoliosis and congenital heart disease has been well known for many years. The incidence of scoliosis in patients with congenital heart disease has been reported as 4.2%. This rate is higher for patients who are indicated for surgical corrections. There are theories advocating that thoracotomy also leads to developmental scoliosis. In this study, in order to test the accuracy of these views for both surgical and non-surgical cases of patients with congenital heart disease (both from the ages of 0–10 and adult patients), we aimed to investigate the prevalence of scoliosis.
356 patients with a diagnosis of congenital heart disease were enrolled in this study. 226 of them were between the ages of 0 and 10, with a mean age of 3.6 ± 5.1 years and a male/female ratio of 111/115. The remaining 130 patients were 26 to 76 years of age, with a mean age of 48.9 ± 22.8 years and a female/male ratio of 49/81. The patients were retrospectively evaluated with chest X-rays, and the cervicothoracic and thoracic regions included in the X-rays were examined for spinal deformities. The prevalence of scoliosis in both groups was calculated separately.
In addition, the effect of receiving surgery or not on the prevalence was also studied.
In this study, the prevalence of scoliosis was found to be 7.30% when all patients were included. This rate was found to be 6.64% for children between 0–10 years of age, and 8.46% for adults.
This study shows that patients who received surgery for congenital heart disease in childhood had an increased prevalence of scoliosis as adults. This result suggests that thoracotomy can have an effect on the development of scoliosis, especially after the age of 10. In the light of these results, it is important to obtain scoliosis X-rays for patients who are diagnosed with any congenital heart disease, and to follow up these patients. Also, for patients with scoliosis, if there are any surgical indications, a detailed cardiac examination and all necessary investigations must be performed before surgery.
