Handedness and scoliosis convexity: a reappraisal

The handedness of 254 girls with idiopathic scoliosis, minimum age eight years at diagnosis, attending Our Lady's Hospital was related to their scoliosis convexity. Curve patterns were assigned to right or left on the basis of the convexity of the low thoracic component only, regardless of primary curve. The curve pattern matched handedness in 82%. Of 228 right-handed children, 197 had a right convex curve pattern; of 26 left-handed children, 12 had a left convex pattern. The correlation between scoliosis configuration and handedness was statistically significant. This is in contrast to the findings of previous studies, which have considered convexity only, without reference to the configuration of the whole spine. The implication of this finding is that scoliosis is associated with cortical functions.