Spinal posture during pubertal growth.

A cohort of children was followed-up annually from a mean age of 10.8-13.8 years to determine the development of their posture. Of the sample of 1060 children, 847 (79.9%) participated in the final examination. Thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were measured annually with a spinal pantograph. Those children whose thoracic kyphosis in pantography was more than 35 degrees at entry and 45 degrees or more at the final examination underwent a lateral standing radiograph. The 3-year incidence of Scheurermann's disease was 0.4%. The mean thoracic kyphosis increased and the mean lumbar lordosis decreased with age in both sexes, but these changes were not constant. Thoracic kyphosis was most pronounced at a mean age of 12.8 years and lumbar lordosis was least pronounced at a mean age of 13.8 years. In accordance with the literature, the wide individual variation found in this study for both thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis during the pubertal growth period was mainly physiologic.