A 12 year-old Chinese schoolgirl presented with left-sided scoliosis at the age of 9 years. She has a rare defect in lipid metabolism, which is not known to be associated with spinal deformity. Her scoliotic curve deteriorated despite bracing. We report a rare occurrence of scoliosis in patient with lipodystrophy and the difficulty of using instrumented fusion in treating this condition.
This is a study of patients referred to the Scoliosis Service of Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Three hundred and thirty five (335) consecutive patients who were seen between 1985 and 2000 were reviewed to determine the presentation of scoliosis, the treatment received and the compliance to follow up. Data were determined by measuring the frontal spinal radiographs. Two hundred and ninety eight (298) patients met inclusion criteria. Idiopathic scoliosis accounted for 203 patients (68.1%), 31 (10.4%) were neuromuscular scoliosis; and 44 (14.8%) had congenital scoliosis. Twenty-five point five percent of patients had surgery, 10.4% were treated with brace, while the remaining 69.1% of patients were observed, or had no treatment at all. Congenital scoliosis patients had better compliance compared to idiopathic or neuromuscular scoliosis patients.