Zeitschrift für Wirbelsäule

The Development of Vertebral Deformities in a Preschool Child with Dysplastic Spondylolisthesis: A 16-Year Follow-Up

Abstract

Masayuki Ohashi, Toru Hirano, Naoto Endo and Seiji Uchiyama

Study design: A case report describing the development of vertebral deformities associated with dysplastic spondylolisthesis that was managed conservatively until skeletal maturity was achieved.

Objective: To describe development of wedging and rounding vertebral deformities.

Summary of Background Data: There are no reports of preschool children with dysplastic spondylolisthesis that were managed conservatively until skeletal maturity.

Methods: A 5-year-old girl presented with a postural deformity associated with congenital scoliosis and dysplastic spondylolisthesis. Surgery was performed for scoliosis at the age of 13 years, but spondylolisthesis was managed conservatively up to skeletal maturity.

Results: The wedging of the L5 body and the rounding of the sacrum progressed during her growth period, and no progression was observed thereafter. The slippage progressed gradually during and after her growth period, and posterior lumbar interbody fusion was performed at the age of 21 years.

Conclusion: We speculate that the slippage associated with dysplastic spondylolisthesis occurs at the growth plate, and vertebral deformities are the results rather than the causative factors of the slippage as observed in the case of slippage associated with isthmic spondylolisthesis.