Early non-operative diagnosis of spinal pseudoarthrosis.

A review of the literature shows that some loss of correction after seemingly adequate fusion, with or without spinal instrumentation, is considered inevitable and, in general, accepted. A critical study of case series reveals that occult silent pseudoarthrosis is the commonest cause of this loss. It is suggested that the use of corrective roentgenography is a valuable aid in the diagnosis of these lesions.