Researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital have announced that they are now offering a breakthrough in scoliosis testing. Dr. Michael Vitale explains that a simple saliva test predicts whether spinal curve progression will become significantly worse or stay the same.

“Molecular testing promises to be a major breakthrough for scoliosis,” says Dr. Vitale.

The DNA test, called ScoliScore^TM, may end the game of “wait-and-see” for teenagers with scoliosis who are traditionally are observed over several years, with frequent doctor’s visits and X-rays, all without knowing what their long-term outcome is likely to be. While all patients diagnosed with scoliosis are monitored and followed in the same way, less than 10 percent of patients actually progress to a severe curve.

” ‘Idiopathic’ means ‘of unknown causes.’ Since ScoliScore^TM has shown that there is a genetic basis for the condition, we may need to consider a new name,” notes Dr. Vitale.