African American Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Whole Genome and Whole Exome Study

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common pediatric spinal deformity. The causes of scoliosis are only now being discovered yet are important for predicting outcome and need for surgery. Prior studies have investigated the causes of scoliosis, including common and rare variant risk factors, but have mostly used populations consisting of Asian or European ancestry. It is essential that we determine what the risk factors are in all populations so that we can delivery equitable care to all individuals. ]]>
The inclusion criteria are unrelated individuals with self report of African ancestry recruited from the US with spinal curves developing in adolescence, and absence of structural scoliosis or other known underlying disorder.]]>
This study is a collaborative effort from researchers and clinicians from multiple centers who have a long history of collaboration through the International Consortium for Spinal Genetics, Development, and Disease. Investigators at three study sites contributed samples: Washington University (Matthew Dobbs), Shriners Hospital for Children St Louis (Matthew Dobbs), Texas Scottish Rite Hospital (Carol Wise). ]]>