SIB #387-Ultrasound Evaluation of Coronal Curves
The Study: Reliability of assessing the coronal curvature of children with scoliosis by using ultrasound images.
The Facts:
a. The authors wanted to assess the reliability of ultrasound (US) imaging in measuring scoliotic curvature.
b. They used a cadaver spine paced into scoliosis of varying degrees as a phantom.
c. Imaging of the phantom spine was obtained using both a laser scan method and ultrasound (US).
d. Additionally: “Five live subjects (all children) were scanned using the same US system.”
e. These five subjects were X-rayed and all exhibited scoliosis.
f. Ultrasound measurements of the phantom were obtained with the phantom placed in a tank of water.
g. The ultrasound measurements were analyzed using a “center of lamina” analysis and compared to the more standard Cobb angle measurements obtained from the radiographs.
h. Here is what the authors concluded: “Our phantom study showed that the COL method is as reliable as the traditional Cobb method in terms of measuring the severity of scoliosis.” When it comes to the scoliosis subjects: “The selection of the end-vertebrae of the curve from US images is similar to that from radio-graphs.” They further noted: “The measurement error of the COL method is within the acceptable accuracy for a scoliosis clinic.” (emphasis ours)
Take Home:
The phantom study showed that the COL method is as reliable as the Cobb method when it comes to scoliosis severity evaluation. COL error is “within the acceptable accuracy for a scoliosis clinic.”
Reviewer's Comments: So why did we review this one as we have looked at similar articles previously? Although this is an older article, we think this is an important topic and each one expands on the idea of non radiological imaging. This article looked at only the coronal curves (others we reported on also looked at sagittal curves), but it makes the point that the COL can be used for measurement of coronal curves and that is important. When you take the articles on this subject that we have reported on, you can see increasing evidence that this technology is becoming more attractive for should give serious consideration into developing ultrasound and other non radiological imaging modalities into a program designed for the practicing doctor of chiropractic. This technology appears poised to only get better with time and could be a giant step forward for chiropractic.
Reviewer: Roger Coleman DC
Editor: Mark R. Payne DC
Reference: Chen w, Lou EH, Zhang PQ, Le LH, Hill D. Reliability of assessing the coronal curvature of children with scoliosis by using ultrasound images. J Child Orthop. 2013 Dec;7(6):521-9. doi: 10.1007/s11832-013-0539-y. Epub 2013 Oct 22.
Link to Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24432116
Link to Full Text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3886351/pdf/11832_2013_Article_539.pdf