Scoliosis in children after thoracotomy for aortic coarctation

A follow-up study was performed to assess the prevalence of scoliosis in 160 patients in whom aortic coarctation had been treated operatively through a left posterolateral incision in the fourth intercostal space. Scoliosis had not been seen in any patient before the thoracotomy, but a scoliosis of 10 degrees or more was observed in thirty-five patients (22 per cent) at the follow-up examination, which was performed an average of seven years after the thoracotomy. The scoliosis was a thoracic curve and was directed to the left in twenty-six of the thirty-five patients. Most of the curves were mild (between 10 and 20 degrees) and hardly progressed during the follow-up period. The high-risk period for the onset of scoliosis began about three years after the operation. The prevalence of scoliosis did not correlate significantly with the age or sex of the patients.