Genetic Markers of Idiopathic and Congenital Scoliosis and Diagnosis of Susceptibility to the Disease: Review of the Literature

Abstract

Inheritance of scoliosis has been studied for many decades, and it was found that it is usually complex, although the literature describes the families with a clear Mendelian principle of transmission of this disease through generations. Naturally, it was necessary to try to find the ge- netic basis of the disease, that is, genes whose mutations can cause the development of scoliosis. And such mutations may serve as markers of the disease assisting in its diagnosis before the onset of spinal deformi- ties. In cases of hereditary disorders of the spine, deformities often con- tinue to evolve even after surgery. In all cases it is important to know what causes led to the development of scoliosis, and such information is certainly important in assessment of the risk of developing disease in a patient, because it allows predicting the effects of a particular mutation, as well as choosing a strategy and tactics of the treatment.

Keywords

• idiopathic scoliosis
• scoliosis inheritance
• genetics