Letter S

Scoliosis, structural

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A fixed lateral (sideway) curve of the spine.</P> Structural scoliosis often occurs from unknown factors without reference to other physical problems (idiopathic scoliosis).

It tends to affect girls during adolescence.</P> Structural scoliosis can also be part of a syndrome or disease.

Examples of conditions that can result in structural scoliosis are: Marfan syndrome (an inherited connective tissue disorder); other connective tissue disorders; neuromuscular diseases (such as cerebral palsy, poliomyelitis, or muscular dystrophy); birth defects (such as hemivertebra, in which one side of a vertebra fails to form normally before birth); injury; certain infections of the spine; tumors (such as those caused by neurofibromatosis, an hereditary disease associated with benign tumors on the spinal column); metabolic (biochemical) diseases; or some arthritic diseases.</P> Structural scoliosis is different than nonstructural (functional) scoliosis in which the spine appears to have a lateral curve (scoliosis) but it is structurally normal.

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