Background: Progressive idiopathic scoliosis can negatively influence the development and functioning of 2-3% of adolescents, with health consequences and economic costs, placing the disease in the centre of interest of the developmental medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Chêneau brace in the management of idiopathic scoliosis. Methods: A prospective observational study according to SOSORT and SRS recommendations comprised 79 patients (58 girls and 21 boys) with progressive idiopathic scoliosis, treated with Chêneau brace and physiotherapy, with initial Cobb angle between 20 and 45 degrees, no previous brace treatment, Risser 4 or more at the final evaluation and minimum one year follow-up after weaning the brace. Achieving 50° of Cobb angle was considered surgical recommendation. Results: At follow-up 20 patients (25.3%) improved, 18 patients (22.8%) were stable, 31 patients (39.2%) progressed below 50 degrees and 10 patients (12.7%) progressed beyond 50 degrees (2 of these 10 patients progressed beyond 60 degrees). Progression concerned the younger and less skeletally mature patients. Conclusion: Conservative treatment with Chêneau orthosis and physiotherapy was effective in halting scoliosis progression in 48.1% of patients. The results of this study suggest that bracing is effective in reducing the incidence of surgery in comparison with natural history.

This paper assesses the effect of neurophysiological rehabilitation in children with postural defects on the depth of thoracic kyphosis, lateral spinal deviation and rotation of spinal motor segments. A total of 201 patients aged 8-15 years old with a postural defect diagnosed by medical examination were enrolled. The analyzed parameters were determined using the DIERS system before the first therapeutic session and after 4 weeks of therapy. The angle of thoracic kyphosis, lateral deviation of the spine and spinal rotation were assessed. The therapy employed techniques associated with the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and Vojta's approaches. The results were analyzed separately for both sexes and for patients rehabilitated solely with Vojta's techniques vs. patients rehabilitated according to combined Vojta's and PNF techniques. The χ2 test was used for statistical analyses, at p < 0.05. There was improvement in the angle of thoracic kyphosis, ranging from 0.14 (among boys with kyphosis < 42°) to 5.47 (among girls with kyphosis ≥ 42°), spinal rotation, from 0.37 (among boys with kyphosis ≥ 42°) to 4.33 (among patients with kyphosis ≥ 42° rehabilitated solely according to Vojta's method), and lateral deviations, ranging from 1.32 mm (among boys with kyphosis < 42°) to 2.99 mm (among patients with kyphosis ≥ 42° rehabilitated solely according to Vojta's method). Neurophysiological rehabilitation of patients with postural defects produced positive effects by improving the angle of thoracic kyphosis, spinal rotation and lateral deviation of the spine. Children with reduced thoracic kyphosis achieved less improvement in the kyphosis angle, lateral spinal deviation and spinal rotation than children with kyphosis ≥ 42°. The DIERS Formetric System enables precise monitoring of therapeutic outcomes. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2019;32(1):25-32.

Introduction: Central nervous system damage in early life results in both quantitative and qualitative abnormalities of psychomotor development. Late sequelae of these disturbances may include visual perception disorders which not only affect the ability to read and write but also generally...

Screening tests play a significant role in rapid and reliable assessment of normal individual development in the entire population of children and adolescents. Body posture screening tests carried out at schools reveal that 50-60% of children and adolescents demonstrate body posture abnormalities, with 10% of this group at risk for progressive spinal deformities. This necessitates the search for effective and economically feasible forms of screening diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of clinical evaluation of body posture compared to objective assessment with the Zebris CMS-10 system (Zebris Medical GmbH). The study enrolled 13-15-year-old pupils attending a junior secondary school (mean age 14.2 years). The study group consisted of 138 participants, including 71 girls and 67 boys, who underwent a clinical evaluation of the body posture and an examination with the Zebris CMS 10 system. Statistically significant discrepancies between the clinical and objective evaluation were noted with regard to lumbar lordosis in boys (n = 67) and thoracic kyphosis in girls (n = 71). No statistically significant differences in both groups were noted for pelvic rotation and trunk position in the frontal plane. 1. The finding of significant discrepancies between the results of assessment in the sagittal plane obtained in the clinical examination and Zebris CMS-10-based assessment suggests that clinical evaluation should be used to provide a general estimation of accentuation or reduction of spinal curvatures in the sagittal plane. 2. The clinical evaluation of posture is reliable with regard to assessment in the frontal plane. 3. The Zebris CMS-10 system makes the clinical examination significantly more objective with regard to assessment of the physiological curvatures and may be used to make screening tests more objective with regard to detecting postural defects.

According to American College of Rheumatology fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a common health problem characterized by widespread pain and tenderness. The pain and tenderness, although chronic, present a tendency to fluctuate both in intensity and location around the body. Patients with FMS experience fatigue and often have sleep disorders. It is estimated that FMS affects two to four percent of the general population. It is most common in women, though it can also occur in men. FMS most often first occur in the middle adulthood, but it can start as early as in the teen years or in the old age. The causes of FMS are unclear. Various infectious agents have recently been linked with the development of FMS. Some genes are potentially linked with an increased risk of developing FMS and some other health problems, which are common comorbidities to FMS. It is the genes that determine individual sensitivity and reaction to pain, quality of the antinociceptive system and complex biochemistry of pain sensation. Diagnosis and therapy may be complex and require cooperation of many specialists. Rheumatologists often make the diagnosis and differentiate FMS with other disorders from the rheumatoid group. FMS patients may also require help from the Psychiatric Clinic (Out-Patients Clinic) due to accompanying mental problems. As the pharmacological treatment options are limited and only complex therapy gives relatively good results, the treatment plan should include elements of physical therapy.