AO Spine and Adult Spinal Deformity
Adult Spinal Deformity (ASD) is not a single disease. It comprises a wide spectrum of pathology and affects up to 30% of the population. The patient population is inherently heterogeneous—not only in the demographics of the patients, the etiology of the condition, but also in the various clinical symptoms and associated comorbidities.
AO ASD Patient Profile
To help clinicians optimize treatment of ASD, AO Spine Knowledge Forum Deformity has developed a comprehensive patient evaluation tool, the AO Spine ASD Patient Profile. It allows clinicians to systematically consider the relevant factors that could contribute to optimal management of the condition.
Download the AO ASD Patient Profile Profile and start using it in your practice.
All adult deformity surgeons are encouraged to use the profile in their daily clinical practice and for training purposes.
AO Spine ASD Courses
AO Spine organizes courses, events, and webinars on adult spinal deformity around the world and online. The annual Global Spine Congress features symposia and scientific sessions with the latest knowledge. In addition, recorded webinars, lectures, training videos, and interviews are available on demand, free of charge to AO members.
Find upcoming adult spinal deformity events in your region—including specimen courses—in the Course finder.
Depending on the level of expertise, courses cover the appropriate treatment and management strategies, use of osteotomies, anterior, posterior, and lateral techniques, complications, and opportunities of emerging technologies.
Explore the AO Spine Course finder for all upcoming AO Spine events near you. Filter by region, country, and level, or use a free word search to find e.g., all deformity courses.
Watch our most popular recordings on ASD:
A paradigm shift in treatment planning to improve patient care
Marinus de Kleuver, Lawrence Lenke, Naresh Babu, Kenny Kwan, Miranda van Hooff, and Caglar Yilgor present the ASD Patient Profile and the underlying paradigm shift in treatment planning to improve patient care.
Classifications and impact of a sagittal balance
A webinar by Taavi Toomela and Marko Neva covers recognizing adult scoliosis and coronal malalignment patterns, describing spino-pelvic changes in adult deformity, differentiating sagittal malalignment, spinal imbalance, and compensatory mechanisms in adult deformity, and acknowledging HRQoL parameters and age specific thresholds in adult scoliosis. It features the use of the AO Spine ASD Patient Profile.
Adult Spinal Deformities
Antonio Faundez describes evaluation and principles of surgical strategies for ASD, including general principles, pathomechanism, importance of clinical and radiological evaluation, and potential complications, such as proximal junctional kyphosis.
You may also be interested in:
AO Spine Knowledge Forum Deformity
All about the AO's global deformity study group and its members, the ongoing research projects, and how they are generating new knowledge and creating a common framework for adult spinal deformity researchers and clinicians.
AO Surgery Reference
The AO's award-winning tool currently covers adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, Scheuermann's kyphosis, and spondylolisthesis.
myAO Case Discussions
Bring your own adult spinal deformity cases and questions into discussion, get opinions from your peers and experts, and comment on cases in a secure environment.
Making ASD surgery safer and more effective
Read the article on developing the AO ASD Patient Profile and access the related scientific articles.