Scheuermann Disease Differential Diagnoses

Updated: Jan 05, 2023
  • Author: Jozef E Nowak, MD; Chief Editor: Stephen Kishner, MD, MHA  more...
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DDx

Diagnostic Considerations

See the list below:

  • Postural round back (the kyphosis is flexible)

  • Thoracic hyperkyphosis in patients with various types of skeletal dysplasia (eg, spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, Morquio disease)

  • Ankylosing spondylitis may present a similar picture.

  • Kyphosis in patients who had a laminectomy before skeletal maturity or who had radiation to the spine for a regional tumor (eg, Wilms tumor, neuroblastoma)

  • Kyphosis in patients with eosinophilic granuloma

  • Type II congenital kyphosis (failure of segmentation)

  • Hyperkyphosis secondary to vertebral epiphysitis in eunuchoidism, ovarian agenesis, and Wilson disease

  • The possibility of scoliosis must be assessed because of the high association with Scheuermann's disease.

  • Friedreich ataxia and neurofibromatosis may present with hyperkyphosis and scoliosis.

  • Thoracic hyperkyphosis may occur secondary to glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in Cushing disease.

  • In atypical cases, a generalized skeletal dysplasia and spinal tuberculosis must be excluded.