Thoracogenic Scoliosis: What Does This Term Mean?

Medical professionals use a mind-boggling array of different terms to refer to scoliosis and other curvatures of the spine. On this blog, we frequently aim to put some of this arcane diagnostic jargon into layman’s terms – see our posts on levoconvex scoliosis and thoracic hyperkyphosis, for example. The tricky medical term that we’d like to look at today is thoracogenic scoliosis. At first glance, this phrase may look like it means the same thing as thoracic scoliosis – that is, a sideways curve in the ‘thoracic’ (upper/middle) region of your backbone. But don’t be tripped up! Thoracogenic scoliosis is a far more specific term than thoracic scoliosis, and they should not be used interchangeably.

So what is thoracogenic scoliosis?

According to the Scoliosis Research Society’s Revised Glossary of Terms, thoracogenic scoliosis is a “spinal curvature attributable to disease or operative trauma in or on the thoracic cage”. In simpler terms, thoracogenic scoliosis is what we call a spinal curve that was caused by either surgery or a disease in the thoracic region (that is, the part of the body that’s highlighted in the image below).

Thoracic Spine

This raises another question…

What can cause thoracogenic scoliosis?

There are several diseases and operations that can trigger the development of scoliosis. Here are just a couple of examples:

Thoracotomy (surgical operation). A thoracotomy involves opening up the patient’s chest, usually to access vital organs such as the heart or lungs. Scoliosis very rarely results from a thoracotomy, but it can happen, as in this case where the patient developed scoliosis post-surgery as the result of her rib fusion.
Lymphoma (disease). Cancers such as lymphoma may, if they grow large enough, disrupt the spine and push it into a curved / skewed position.

Here at the Scoliosis SOS Clinic, we treat all types of scoliosis in patients of all ages. Click here to learn about our treatment methods, or if you’d like to arrange an initial consultation, please contact us today.

Thoracogenic Scoliosis: What Does This Term Mean?

So what is thoracogenic scoliosis?

What can cause thoracogenic scoliosis?

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So what is thoracogenic scoliosis?

What can cause thoracogenic scoliosis?

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