At this point you have had a diagnosis of scoliosis, have had one or more consultations with a specialist and have searched the web for additional information. It is likely that you have been in contact with other patients or families that have gone through surgery for scoliosis. And now you would like to have an expert to evaluate your case for anterior scoliosis correction using flexible cords.
Some information will be useful for Dr Berjano to evaluate your case and tell you if it is a good case for vertebral body tethering or anterior scoliosis correction (yes, VBT or ASC). The first information is about the age and sex of the patient and, age at diagnosis of scoliosis, previous treatments for scoliosis (did he or she wear a brace or had surgery?), other pediatric or medical conditions, magnitude of the curves (expressed in Cobb's angle degrees) and their localization (thoracic, thoracolumbar, lumbar). The most important item to evaluate is a good quality scoliosis radiograph (a long-cassette standing whole spine front and lateral view). Even better, and EOS image (you can see the differences in our post).
From these radiographs, doctors can measure the magnitude of frontal and lateral curvatures of the spine, the type of deformity, the balance of the trunk and shoulders, and some information regarding the remaining spinal growth (which is important to establish the timing and the type of procedure).
Happily, nowadays most X-rays departments provide images in digital support, so that it is much easier to send them over the internet for a remote consultation.
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