Major Environmental Factors Contributing to Congenital Scoliosis

This review aims to identify, track, and analyze the environmental factors affecting the high incidence of Congenital Scoliosis in the Republic of Armenia. The information gathered from the literature came from MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL ranging from the studies done from 1952-2019, which included twenty-six animal studies and thirteen human studies. Regarding congenital scoliosis, the possible environmental factors can be classified as: hypoxia, Carbon Monoxide, maternal diabetes, valproic acid, hyperthermia, twinning, reduction of fetal movements, vitamin A deficiency, boric acid, and alcohol. Comprehension of the causes of Congenital Scoliosis establishes a crucial step into designing preventive measures. Although rare in published literature, it is the notion of orthopedic surgeons specializing in vertebral pathologies, that in certain geographic locations such as the Republic of Armenia, the rates of congenital
scoliosis are much higher, leading to significant healthcare burden. In order to further grasp the epidemiology and pathophysiology of congenital scoliosis, more clinical research is required in the form of large data sets to reach a higher level of evidence for causation. Based on the twentysix animal and thirteen human models, there was insufficient causation for the human studies.
Based on the literature review conducted, there were no prospective/cohort studies on the effects of environmental factors and a lack of adequate controls on the potential causation of congenital scoliosis. A study will be conducted using a questionnaire and medical records to determine whether congenital scoliosis could be potentially affected by environmental factors to determine a causation analysis.