Scoliosis and developmental biology: Testing the hypothesis

It is generally believed that scoliosis with a left thoracic convexity is m ore likely to have underlying pathology than the commoner right pattern. Ex amination of the scoliosis database showed that infantile idiopathic and co ngenital scoliosis have a random distribution of right and left curve patte rns. Juvenile and adolescent idiopathic groups and scoliosis secondary to p athological conditions showed 4:1 ratio of right to left. This was more mar ked in girls than in boys but did not support the view that left thoracic s coliosis is by definition pathological.