Increased limb lengths in patients with shortened spines due to tuberculosis in early childhood.

Abstract

The spine and limb lengths of 26 patients who had a severe spinal deformity due to tuberculosis in childhood were measured and compared with similar data from 79 normal adult volunteers. The aim of the study was to assess whether there are any compensatory growth mechanisms present in patients who had stunted spinal growth in childhood. Previous studies have documented increased leg lengths in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who have had spinal fusions done. The aim of this study was to ascertain if this response was unique to scoliosis or was a more general response to the interruption of normal spine growth. The standing height, spine height, leg length, and upper limb length were measured in 26 adults with stunted spinal growth due to tuberculosis of the spine contracted in early childhood, and compared with similar measurements in 79 normal volunteers. The patients with spinal deformity due to tuberculosis had significantly shorter mean standing and spine heights compared to the volunteers. However, the mean leg length of these patients was 19.4 mm longer than the volunteers and their mean upper limb length was 18.9 mm longer than the volunteers. These differences were statistically significant. Patients whose spinal growth was stunted due to disease in childhood have longer legs and upper limbs than healthy people. A compensatory stimulatory growth mechanism may be responsible for this. This has implications for the whole gamut of childhood spinal disorders that result in stunted spinal growth.