Congenital Scoliosis

What it is

Congenital scoliosis is a curve that comes from spine bones that did not form normally before birth — either a vertebra that formed incompletely (such as a hemivertebra) or two that failed to separate (a bar). It is present from birth, though it is not always noticed right away. It is not caused by anything that happened during pregnancy or by anything you did.

What to expect

Whether the curve worsens depends on the specific anomaly: some are balanced and stay quiet, while others push the spine to curve as your child grows. Because the spine forms at the same early time as other organs, I also check that the kidneys, heart, and spinal cord developed normally, since related differences are sometimes found together.

How we follow it

X-rays show the bony anomaly and the curve, and an MRI looks at the spinal cord. Because growth is what drives these curves, regular checks during your child’s growing years let me catch any progression early, when it is most manageable.

How we treat it

Stable, balanced curves are often simply watched. Bracing is less helpful here than in other types of scoliosis, because the problem is in the bone shape itself. When a curve is progressing, surgery — sometimes removing the malformed bone (a hemivertebra) or stopping growth on one side — can correct it, and doing this while a child is young often allows a smaller, more effective operation. We tailor everything to the specific anomaly and your child’s growth.

The science — for the curious

The key to congenital scoliosis is that the anomaly’s type predicts its behavior: a single balanced hemivertebra may never cause trouble, while an unbalanced anomaly or a one-sided bar can drive relentless curving with growth. That is why early, accurate identification matters so much — it lets us watch the low-risk patterns and act early on the high-risk ones, before the curve becomes large and rigid.

Learn more

Scoliosis Research Society — Scoliosis: srs.org

Scoliosis Research Society — Patient Brochures: srs.org/patients

This handout is general education about a common condition and does not replace the personalized advice we discuss in clinic. If anything here does not match what we talked about, what we talked about wins — please ask me.