What is Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis?

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common form of scoliosis. It helps to break the name into its three sections:

• Adolescent: AIS affects children starting around age 10. If a patient is not yet skeletally mature (they still have growing left to do), they are considered adolescent.
• Idiopathic: This is a medical term that means “without known cause.” Doctors do not know precisely what causes AIS, but it is a genetic disorder.

  Dr. Bridwell and the team at Washington University have contributed to a database that is researching the genetic aspects of scoliosis. It is anticipated that soon the database will be large enough to be able to predict from DNA samples which patients will have progressive curves (curves that will get worse over time).

• Scoliosis: If the spine has abnormal side curves, those curves are described as scoliosis. The spine can curve to the right or to the left. Scoliosis is a “three-dimensional” curve, meaning that the spine can twist in addition to curving side-to-side. As the vertebrae (the bones that make up the spine) rotate, they may reduce lung function and accelerate degenerative changes in the spine.