Scoliosis and Kyphosis
The spine has naturally cervical and lumbar region lordosis ( L shape ) and thoracic spine Kyphosis ( K shape ). This natural curvature provides the gravitational weight of the body going from head to toe. When a patient will have a loss of these natural curvatures, it will become abnormal spine curvature. Loss of cervical and lumbar lordosis will aggravate the degenerative process of the spine. The cause of developing scoliotic ( S shape ) and Kyphotic ( K Shape ) deformities are either congenital developmental problems of the spine or pathological conditions. These patients may also have tethered cord syndrome, split cord malformation, Arnold Chiari malformation or neural tube defect. A pathological condition like above if associated with abnormal spinal curvature should be treated first before spinal scoliotic or kyphotic corrective surgery. Some patients may lose the thoracic vertebral body content due to fracture or infective pathology or tumour. Those patients will develop thoracic kyphotic deformity. In India, Tuberculosis is a common infective pathological condition associated with kyphotic deformity of the spine and should be treated surgically.