Scoliosis screening in West Germany and its pitfalls with Scheuermann's disease

The problems of scoliosis screening in the Federal Republic of Germany are outlined. The main pitfall with regard to the high numbers of very mild scolioses seems to be the disregard of mild forms in connection with Scheuermann's disease, in spite of their good prognosis. This group should be clearly separated, by means of a lateral X-ray, from beginning idiopathic adolescent scoliosis, with its doubtful prognosis. Moreover, it is necessary to exclude all curves below 10 degrees shown on the a.p. standing X-ray, not forgetting the fact that a seemingly mild scoliosis might be due in part to misleading projections and positions. The use of an electronic balance scale may be helpful in this respect.