Two-stage corrective surgery for congenital deformities of the spine

Sixty patients with congenital deformities of the spine were operated upon in the past fifteen years using a two-stage procedure. In the fifty patients with scoliosis half of the deformities were due to hemivertebrae and half to unilateral bars. The average correction of the deformity was 47 per cent. Early neurological signs observed in two patients with a diastematomyelia resolved. Of the ten patients with kyphosis nine had neurological signs of impending paraplegia and one was completely paraplegic before operation; all improved markedly. Posterior spinal fusion alone in the rapidly progressing congenital deformity may not prevent further progression, particularly in those cases iwth unilateral bars. Anterior resection of the vertebral body with later posterior fusion with Harrington instrumentation is safe and effective.