Classification of postural disorders and spinal deformities in the three dimensions according to computer optical topography.

The appearance of surface topography has opened up new opportunities for population-based studies of postural disorders and spinal deformities. In Russia such study began in 1996 and nowadays a large amount of statistical data on the pediatric population has been accumulated. Analysis of the postural disorder and spinal deformity varieties has allowed us to create a new classification of these disorders. Classification is based on three-dimensional estimation of the trunk and on the orthopedic division of structural scoliosis into 4 grades assumed in Russia.