Journal article
Predicting pulmonary function using thoracic deformity parameters in early onset scoliosis patients
PloS one, v 20(7), e0329199
31 Jul 2025
PMID: 40743255
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Thoracospinal deformities in early onset scoliosis (EOS) patients often lead to thoracic insufficiency syndrome, in which respiration or lung growth is impaired. Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are used to assess pulmonary deficits but are challenging to comply with for EOS patients, who typically are between 5 and 10 years old. Thus, the objective was to predict PFT values in EOS patients directly from deformity parameters measured on routine radiographs.
Corresponding preoperative radiographs and PFT values were retrospectively obtained from 47 EOS patients (13M/34F; mean age: 9.8 ± 3.0 years), and 19 literature-based deformity parameters were measured. Multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses using an exhaustive search feature selection method were used to estimate percent predicted forced vital capacity (%FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (%FEV1). Ten percent of the dataset was set aside to validate the predictive accuracy of the MLR models.
The additive contributions of multiple thoracospinal deformity parameters successfully yielded significant (p < 0.001) MLR models that predicted %FVC (R2 = 0.54) and %FEV1 (R2 = 0.59) in EOS patients. For the validation test, no significant differences (p > 0.05) in prediction error magnitudes were found.
The developed MLR models provide the highest reported precision for predicting PFT values in EOS patients from radiographic deformity parameters. Additionally, a key subset of deformity parameters was identified, and their relative contributions to predicting PFT values provide quantitative metrics to guide surgical treatment.
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Details
- Title
- Predicting pulmonary function using thoracic deformity parameters in early onset scoliosis patients
- Creators
- Mattan R Orbach - Drexel UniversityPatrick J Cahill - Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaAnnalise Noelle Larson - Mayo ClinicRon El-Hawary - Boston Children's HospitalOscar H Mayer - Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaSriram Balasubramanian - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- PloS one, v 20(7), e0329199
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLOS)
- Number of pages
- 14
- Grant note
- Wyss-Campbell Center for Thoracic Insufficiency Syndrome at the Children(TM)s Hospital of Philadelphia
We thank the Pediatric Spine Study Group (PSSG) for providing the data used in this study.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001542029800016
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105012239296
- Other Identifier
- 991022068184904721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Orthopedics