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

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. *Corresponding author: Masayuki Ohashi, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Regenerative and Transplant Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences 1-757 Asahimachi Dori Niigata City 951-8510, Japan, Tel: +81-25-227-2272; Fax: +81-25-227-0782; E-mail: [email protected] Received January 16, 2014; Accepted February 03, 2014; Published February 06, 2014 Citation: Ohashi M, Hirano T, Endo N, Uchiyama S (2014) The Development of Vertebral Deformities in a Preschool Child with Dysplastic Spondylolisthesis: A 16Year Follow-Up. J Spine 3: 156. doi:10.4172/2165-7939.1000156 Copyright: © 2014 Ohashi M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.