PATHOGENESIS OF IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS - SEPS IN CHICKEN WITH EXPERIMENTALLY-INDUCED SCOLIOSIS AND IN PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS

We studied somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in 20 chickens with experimentally induced scoliosis after pinealectomy and in 100 patient s with idiopathic scoliosis. We also studied 20 chickens without scoli osis and 20 healthy youngsters. In the chickens, SEPs after leg stimul ation was significantly delayed in the scoliosis group compared to the controls. In patients, the latency of cortical potential (N37) after stimulation of tibial nerve was longer in the scoliosis group than in the controls. Our findings in both experimental and clinical studies s trongly support the hypothesis that idiopathic scoliosis results from dysfunction in the central nervous system. The type of SEPs abnormalit ies described in idiopathic scoliosis suggest a pathology from the mid brain to the cortex.