A 13-year-old girl complains of backache and fatigue. Her mother has noticed that she is becoming increasingly round-shouldered. On examination, she has a smooth thoracic kyphosis. X-ray shows wedge- shaped vertebral bodies in the thoracic spine:

Ans. A. Scheuermann's diseaseScheuermann's disease is a rare condition that typically affects teenagers. There is abnormal ossification of ring epiphyses of thoracic vertebrae. The deforming forces are greatest at the anterior border of the vertebrae, giving rise to the described wedge-shaped vertebral bodies (i.e. narrower anteriorly). Management depends on the degree of kyphosis and ranges from back strengthening exercises and postural training in those mildly affected to operative correction and fusion in those with severe kyphosis.