Scoliosis and congenital heart defects: a historical and analytical review of the literature

Scoliosis is a common orthopedic condition that, when progressive, requires surgical intervention. Congenital heart defects are another common pathology, often requiring surgery, most often (unlike scoliosis) for urgent or life-saving reasons. These two pathologies can and often do coexist, inevitably posing new challenges for surgeons, both cardiologists and spine surgeons. A systematic search of publications in the Pubmed/Medline electronic database was conducted using the keywords “scoliosis” and “congenital heart defect”. A total of 109 papers were identified, all with one exception in English. These papers are included in the historical and analytical literature review. An attempt was made to answer a number of questions: how often do scoliosis and congenital heart defects occur, how often is scoliosis combined with congenital heart defects, how often is congenital heart defect combined with scoliosis, what types of scoliotic deformities accompany the development of congenital heart defects, what are the mechanisms of scoliosis formation in combination with congenital heart defects, does the dynamics of the development of the musculoskeletal system change in children with congenital heart defects, and what are the results of surgical correction of scoliotic deformities against the background of congenital heart defects and of heart defects – against the background of scoliotic disease? Scoliosis and congenital heart disease are large and important areas of clinical medicine. The combination of these pathological conditions is common, creating a new clinical entity that has not been fully studied. Surgical correction of one or both pathologies, when they coexist, presents a complex clinical challenge.