Panagiotis Iliopoulos, Panagiotis Korovessis, Georgios Koureas, Spyridon Zacharatos, Panagiotis Stergiou


September 2007, Volume 16, Issue 9, pp 1343 - 1347 Original Article Read Full Article 10.1007/s00586-007-0322-1

First Online: 09 February 2007

Breast asymmetry was believed to be related to asymmetry of anterior chest wall blood supply and subsequently to aetiology of idiopathic thoracic scoliosis in female adolescents. Recent investigations on the anterior chest wall blood supply with Colour Doppler Ultrasonography (CDU) in such individuals did not show anatomical and hemodynamic abnormalities. The present study investigated the evolution of anterior chest wall blood supply in these individuals over a 2-year period. Twenty female adolescents with progressive right-convex idiopathic thoracic scoliosis (scoliotics), who were during the study in therapy with horacolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO) and 20 age-matched girls, without spine deformity (controls) were studied with CDU [internal mammary artery (IMA)] twice within the 2-year period. IMA-anatomical parameters [lumen diameter (D) and cross sectional area (AR)] as well as hemodynamic flow parameters [time average mean flow velocity and flow volume per minute (FV)] were measured. In the 2-year-period of observation, TLSO prevented scoliosis progression (P = 0.004), while IMA-AR decreased bilaterally in the individuals of both groups (P 


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