The effect of arm positions used during radiography on spinal alignment parameters assessed by 3D ultrasound imaging in adolescents with and volunteers without idiopathic scoliosis.

Purpose: Clinicians monitor scoliosis progression using multiple radiographs during growth. During imaging, arms must be elevated to visualize vertebrae, possibly affecting sagittal alignment. This study aimed to determine the arm position that best represents habitual standing (and possibly allowing hand-based skeletal maturity assessment) to obtain frontal and lateral stereo-radiographs as measured using frontal, sagittal, and transverse angles.

The test-retest reliability of frontal, sagittal, and transverse spinal measurements during three standing arm positions in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis measured using ultrasound imaging.

Purpose: Clinicians monitor scoliosis progression using radiographs during growth. Three standing positions were assessed because the arms must be elevated to visualize all vertebrae on radiographs, possibly affecting sagittal parameters. 3D Ultrasound (3DUS) is safe to assess positions without radiation, but its test-retest reliability has not been established for common radiograph positions.

Puberty changes the natural history of idiopathic scoliosis: three prediction models for future radiographic curve severity from 1563 consecutive patients.

Purpose: Understanding idiopathic scoliosis (IS) natural history during growth is essential for shared decision-making between patients and physicians. We developed a retrospective model with the largest available sample in the literature and we aimed to investigate if using three peri-pubertal growth periods provides better prediction than a unique model.

Methods: Secondary analysis of a previous study on IS natural history data from radiographs before and at the first consult.

Validity and accuracy of automatic cobb angle measurement on 3D spinal ultrasonographs for children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: SOSORT 2024 award winner.

Purpose: Ultrasonography for scoliosis is a novel imaging method that does not expose children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) to radiation. A single ultrasound scan provides 3D spinal views directly. However, measuring ultrasonograph parameters is challenging, time-consuming, and requires considerable training.

Effect of adding Schroth physiotherapeutic scoliosis specific exercises to standard care in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis on posture assessed using surface topography: A secondary analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a three-dimensional structural asymmetry of the spine and trunk affecting 2-4% of adolescents. Standard treatment is observation, bracing, and surgery for small, moderate, and large curves, respectively. Schroth exercises aim to correct posture and reduce curve progression.

Influence of an Exercise-Specific Face Mask on Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Graded Exercise.

The impact of exercise-specific face masks (ESFMs) in aerobically fit individuals on physiological, perceptual, respiratory, and performance responses remains unclear. How ESFMs mitigate exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is also unknown. Thus, this study aimed to determine how an ESFM altered within-exercise physiological, perceptual, respiratory, and performance responses to graded treadmill exercise.

Associations between paraspinal muscle characteristics and spinal curvature in conservatively treated adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a systematic review.

Background Context: Children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) may show asymmetrical paraspinal muscle characteristics.

Purpose: To summarize the evidence regarding: (1) the associations between various paraspinal muscle characteristics and spinal curvature; (2) whether paraspinal muscle properties significantly differed between children with and without AIS; and (3) whether baseline paraspinal muscle characteristics predicted curve progression.

Study Design/setting: Systematic literature review.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Traditional Chinese Version of the Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life (ISYQOL) Questionnaire.

The Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life (ISYQOL) is a validated health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaire for teenagers with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). We culturally-adapted ISYQOL to traditional Chinese (ISYQOL-TC) and then recruited 133 conservatively treated teenagers with AIS to complete the ISYQOL-TC and the Chinese version of the Scoliosis Research Society-22 revised (SRS-22r) questionnaire, nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), and numeric pain rating scale (NPRS). They repeated ISYQOL-TC two weeks later.

Validation of an artificial intelligence-based method to automate Cobb angle measurement on spinal radiographs of children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Background: Accurately measuring the Cobb angle on radiographs is crucial for diagnosis and treatment decisions for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). However, manual Cobb angle measurement is time-consuming and subject to measurement variation, especially for inexperienced clinicians.

Aim: This study aimed to validate a novel artificial-intelligence-based (AI) algorithm that automatically measures the Cobb angle on radiographs.

Colonization of the Gastrointestinal Tract of Chicks with Different Bacterial Microbiota Profiles.

This study aimed to investigate the consequences of early-life microbiota transplantation using different caecal content sources in broiler chicks. We hypothesized that chicks receiving at-hatch microbiota from organic hens would harbour a distinct microbiota from chicks receiving industry-raised broiler microbiota after six weeks of age. Three hundred Cobb broilers eggs were randomly assigned to one of four groups according to the caecal content received: organic laying hens (Organic); autoclaved caecal content of organic laying hens (Autoclaved); conventionally grown broilers (Conventional); and sterile saline (Control).

Systematic review of imaging comparisons of spinal alignment among standing positions in healthy adolescents or adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis: SOSORT 2023 award winner.

Purpose: Clinicians detect scoliosis worsening over time using frequent radiographs during growth. Arms must be elevated when capturing sagittal radiographs to visualize the vertebrae, and this may affect the sagittal angles. The aim was to systematically review the published evidence of the effect of arm positions used during radiography on spinal alignment parameters in healthy participants and those with AIS.

Forecasting Pathogen Dynamics with Bayesian Model-Averaging: Application to Xylella fastidiosa.

Forecasting invasive-pathogen dynamics is paramount to anticipate eradication and containment strategies. Such predictions can be obtained using a model grounded on partial differential equations (PDE; often exploited to model invasions) and fitted to surveillance data. This framework allows the construction of phenomenological but concise models relying on mechanistic hypotheses and real observations.

Cross-cultural validation of the Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life questionnaire: the ISYQOL international.

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and its treatments can severely impact health-related quality of life. The Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life (ISYQOL) questionnaire, initially developed in Italian and tested on Italian people, was created to measure quality of life in young persons with spine changes. ISYQOL was created using the Rasch analysis, a modern psychometric technique for questionnaires' assessment and development, which showed that the ordinal scores of the ISYQOL Italian version provide sound quality of life measures.

Do Female University Varsity Athletes Have a Greater Risk of Injury Within a Competitive Varsity Season?

Previous varsity sport injury research has analyzed how acute and chronic injury severity, type, and location differs between sport and sexes, with limited research in time to injury. Canadian university varsity sport injury research is especially sparse and mostly retrospective. Thus, we aimed to understand injury differences in male and female competitive university athletes competing in the same sport.

Prediction of future curve angle using prior radiographs in previously untreated idiopathic scoliosis: natural history from age 6 to after the end of growth (SOSORT 2022 award winner).

Purpose: Treatment selection for idiopathic scoliosis is informed by the risk of curve progression. Previous models predicting curve progression lacked validation, did not include the full growth/severity spectrum or included treated patients. The objective was to develop and validate models to predict future curve angles using clinical data collected only at, or both at and prior to, an initial specialist consultation in idiopathic scoliosis.

Algorithm for Schroth-Curve-Type Classification of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: An Intra- and Inter-Rater Reliability Study.

Schroth exercises for scoliosis are prescribed based on curve types. This study aimed to determine the reliability of an algorithm for classifying Schroth curve types. Forty-four consecutive volunteers with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, 10 to 18 years old, with curves 10° to 50°, were recruited from a scoliosis clinic.

Inventory of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Used in the Non-Operative Care of Scoliosis: A Scoping Review.

It is unclear which patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can assess non-operative care for scoliosis. Most existing tools aim to assess the effects of surgery. This scoping review aimed to inventory the PROMs used to assess non-operative scoliosis treatment by population and languages.

Cross-cultural French-Canadian adaptation and psychometric assessment of the Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life (ISYQOL) questionnaire.

Background Context: Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) can significantly alter the quality of life of adolescents. Some of the available questionnaires in French measuring the quality of life in this population show weak psychometric properties. The newly developed Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life (ISYQOL) questionnaire promises better properties.

Participant Exercise-Session Attendance in Community-Based, Bridging, and Hospital-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

Background: A paucity of studies have investigated participant attendance in community-based and hybrid cardiac rehabilitation programs in the Canadian setting. We compared exercise-session attendance of community-based, bridging (hospital plus community-based), and hospital-based participants who attended a high-volume cardiac rehabilitation program in Alberta, Canada.

Methods: Exercise sessions attended and participant characteristics were collected and analyzed from 230 records of patients who attended cardiac rehabilitation between 2016 and 2019.