Congenital scoliosis. A histopathologic study.

A histopathologic study of the spine from a child with congenital scoliosis indicates that the major problems relate to the vertebral bodies, which are irregular in size, shape, and position, and to the adjacent intervertebral discs, which are always abnormal. Bone and cartilage as tissues, however, are histologically and histochemically unremarkable; it is their positioning which is irregular. No molecular abnormality of collagen could be found in bone, cartilage, or skin. Pathogenesis is discussed in reference to theories of general and vertebral morphogenesis. The findings of abnormal spatial deposition of histologically and biochemically unremarkable tissue are consistent with inductive abnormalities of the notochord. The clinical and radiologic manifestations in congenital scoliosis are a combination of primary embryologic abnormalities, secondary developmental abnormalities which spring from the, and tertiary developmental irregularities.