RESULTS OF COMPLEX EXAMINATION OF CHILDREN WITH GRADE I–II SCOLIOSIS LIVING IN EUROPEAN NORTH OF RUSSIA

Abstract

Objectives. To evaluate functional peculiarities of somatic systems in children with initial (I–II) grades of scoliosis living in the European North of Russia.

Material and Methods. Complex examination of 598 schoolchildren (160 with and 438 without scoliosis) aged 7 to 15 years has been carried out. More than 1400 examinations were implemented using orthopedic and radiographic methods, USI, computer spirometry, rheovasography and echocardiography.

Results. It has been determined that indices of volumetric blood flow in children with scoliosis at the age of 7 to 11 years are reduced by 14–15 % (р < 0.001) in upper extremities and 12–16 % (р < 0.01–0.001) in lower extremities as compared to those in children without scoliosis. Mitral valve dysfunction is 3 times more often (р < 0.05) and regurgitation on pulmonary artery valve is 1.7 times (р < 0.05) more often in children with scoliosis than in schoolchildren without pathology of the spine. At the age of 7–11 years functional abilities of the external respiration system in girls with initial degrees of scoliosis were reduced, in children at the age of 7–15 years the speed of air flow along the bronchial tree decreased at the level of average and small bronchi that correlated reliably with scoliosis. Anomalies of gallbladder development, biliary dyskinesia and pancreas pathology occurred reliably more often in the schoolchildren with scoliosis than in those without scoliosis.

Conclusion. The received data allow grounding a wider application of a term «scoliotic disease». This pathologic state involves not only the vertebral column but also the somatic systems of a child organism both with severe (III–IV) and initial (I–II) grades of scoliosis.