The use of axial loaded MRI in place of radiographs for surveillance of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: one practice's experience and recommendations

This orthopaedic practice began a prospective study of whether these scans provided reliable curve measurements when compared to traditional radiographs. While enrolling patients in this study and obtaining axial loaded MRI's during regular clinic hours, we were able to gain experience in how to schedule patients, obtain scans efficiently, provide axial loading to simulate gravity during the scan (Figure 1), use MRI images to obtain Cobb angles, and incorporate this all into our regular patient care routine.