Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Nov 28, 2016; 8(11): 895-901
Published online Nov 28, 2016. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v8.i11.895
Radiological imaging findings of scheuermann disease
Erkan Gokce, Murat Beyhan
Erkan Gokce, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Gaziosmanpaşa University, 60100 Tokat, Turkey
Murat Beyhan, Department of Radiology, Tokat State Hospital, 60100 Tokat, Turkey
Author contributions: Gokce E and Beyhan M collected and analyzed the data equally; Gokce E designed, supervised and statistical analysis the study; Gokce E and Beyhan M had taken part in literature research and manuscript preparation and had read and approved the final version.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Gaziosmanpaşa University School of Medicine (No: 15-KAEK-156).
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis of figures used picture archiving and communication system.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Erkan Gokce, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Gaziosmanpaşa University, Kaleardi Quarter, Muhittin Fisunoglu Street, 60100 Tokat, Turkey. erkangokce@mynet.com
Telephone: +90-542-3798986 Fax: +90-362-2309105
Received: June 8, 2016
Peer-review started: June 13, 2016
First decision: July 11, 2016
Revised: July 23, 2016
Accepted: September 6, 2016
Article in press: September 8, 2016
Published online: November 28, 2016
Processing time: 166 Days and 14.1 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To find accompanying anomalies of typical and atypical Scheuermann’s disease (SD) is reported in the present study.

METHODS

Study included 20 patients (16 men and 4 women) who had radiological imaging radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography, if available, due to back pain, curved back and low back pain in November 2011-February 2016 period. Patients were categorized into typical and atypical patterns based on the region involved. Thoracic kyphosis values were measured using real Cobb angle. Accompanying disc degeneration, herniations and spinal cord pathologies were studied using MRI.

RESULTS

Age of the patients ranged from 11.0 to 23.0 (mean 17.2 ± 3.0). Typical pattern of SD were detected in 15 patients while atypical pattern were detected in 5 patients. Cobb angle range was 40.2-67.2 (mean 55.5 ± 8.7) in typical Scheuermann’s patients and 24.7-49.9 (mean 36.7 ± 10.8) in atypical ones. Intervertebral level was affected and had the measures of 3-8 (mean 5.3 ± 1.6) and 7-9 (mean 8.2 ± 0.8) in typical and atypical Scheuermann’s patients, respectively. Level of degenerative disc disease in MRI was 1-7 discs (mean 4.1 ± 1.7) in typical patients and 5-10 discs (mean 7.6 ± 1.9) in atypical patients.

CONCLUSION

SD can be seen in typical and atypical patterns, typical being more frequent. Because degenerative disc diseases, herniations and cord pathologies such as syringomyelia can accompany SD (albeit more common in atypical pattern), it is necessary to evaluate these patients with plain radiography and MRI together.

Keywords: Cobb angle; Magnetic resonance imaging; Juvenile kyphosis; Scheuermann’s disease; Thoracic kyphosis

Core tip: Scheuermann’s disease (SD) is the most common cause of degenerative structural thoracic or thoracolumbar hyperkyphosis associated with back pain in adolescents and could be observed in typical and atypical patterns. It manifests itself with successive endplate irregularities and anterior vertebral wedging in radiography, and additionally as disc degenerations, herniations and syringomyelia in spinal cord in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Impairment in intervertebral distance and disc degeneration are more evident in SD with atypical pattern. When multiple endplate irregularities and anterior vertebral wedging are observed in MRI of patients thought to have thoracolumbar disc pathology, SD should be considered.