title: Orthopaedic aspects of neurofibromatosis: update.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Neurofibromatosis type I (NF-1), affecting 1: 3000 people, is one of the most common disorders of the nervous system, and most pediatricians will care for a patient with this condition. It is imperative that careful attention be paid to screening for scoliosis and tibial dysplasia. Prompt referral to an orthopaedist at the time of diagnosis, as well as neurologist, ophthalmologist, and dermatologist, will provide a global spectrum of care for the individual. Patient care between surgical procedures will be inevitable, with 70% of patients with NF-1 undergoing hospitalization or surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This review provides a description of diagnosis, presurgical evaluation, and advances in understanding tibial dysplasia, scoliosis and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. New pharmaceutical treatments such as lovastatin have improved bone healing in vivo and induced apoptosis in vitro. Multiple pharmaceuticals have shown neurofibroma arrest in vitro and are in phase II clinical trials.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As animal models improve and clinical trials proceed, there is momentum toward eliminating the musculoskeletal morbidity associated with NF-1.
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Special Surgery, New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Tracey A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Delucia
authors.forename: Kaleb
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yohay
authors.forename: Roger F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Widmann
mesh_terms: D001848:Bone Diseases, Developmental / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D009456:Neurofibromatosis 1 / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy