title: A prospective randomized controlled study on the treatment outcome of SpineCor brace versus rigid brace for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis with follow-up according to the SRS standardized criteria.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  SpineCor is a relatively innovative brace for non-operative treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). However, the effectiveness of SpineCor still remains controversial. The objective of the current study was to compare the treatment outcomes of SpineCor brace with that of rigid brace following the standardized Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) criteria on AIS brace study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Females subjects with AIS and aged 10-14 were randomly allocated into two groups undergoing treatment of SpineCor (S Group, n = 20) or rigid brace (R Group, n = 18). During SpineCor treatment, patients who had curve progression of >5° would be required to switch to rigid brace treatment. The effectiveness of the two brace treatments was assessed using the SRS standardized criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Before skeletal maturity, 7 (35.0%) patients in the S Group and 1 (5.6%) patient in the R Group had curve progression >5° (P = 0.026). At skeletal maturity, 5 of the 7 (71.4%) patients who failed with SpineCor bracing showed control from further progression by changing to rigid bracing. At the latest follow-up with a mean duration of 45.1 months after skeletally maturity, 29.4% of patients who were successfully treated by rigid brace showed further curve progression beyond skeletal maturity, versus 38.5% of patients in the SpineCor group (P > 0.05). For both groups, the primary curves were slightly improved at the time of brace weaning, but additionally increased at the latest follow-up, with a rate of 1.5° per year for post-maturity progression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Curve progression rate was found to be significantly higher in the SpineCor group when compared with the rigid brace group. Changing to rigid bracing could control further curve progression for majority of patients who previously failed with SpineCor bracing. For both SpineCor and rigid brace treatments, 30-40% of patients who were originally successfully treated by bracing would exhibit further curve progression beyond skeletal maturity. The post-maturity progression rate was found to be 1.5° per year in the current study, which was relatively greater than those reported before.
authors.affiliation: Spine Surgery, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Tsz Ping
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Man Sang
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Bobby Kin Wah
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Kwong Man
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: King Lok
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lik Hang
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Ajax Hong Yin
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Sai Wing
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Sin
authors.forename: Wing Kwan
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kwok
authors.forename: Fiona Wai Ping
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Jack Chun Yiu
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001915:Braces; D002648:Child; D018450:Disease Progression; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000628:therapy*