AO Spine Knowledge Forum Deformity
Goals

AO Spine KF Deformity aims to improve the care for patients with a spinal deformity by generating and disseminating meaningful and impactful clinical evidence.
They do this by engaging leading clinicians, researchers, and spine centers from around the world to perform evidence-based research and by disseminating the research findings and newfound knowledge through publications and presentations.
Ongoing research projects
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AO Spine Knowledge Forum Deformity Focus Issue
Principal investigator:
Stephen Lewis
Co-Principal investigators:
Lawrence Lenke
Goals:
Aims to provide a thorough review of the current status of adult spinal deformity surgery and highlight areas of controversy. The issue will provide guidance through the current literature and help identify future directions to help answer some of the difficulties encountered in treating this complex and highly variable disorder.
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Tension Parameters in Junctional Tethers for Proximal Junctional Kyphosis (PJK)
Principal investigator:
Tim O’Connor
Co-Principal investigators:
Mary O’Hehir, Jeffrey Mullin
Goals:
Aims to determine optimal tension parameters in junctional tethers for PJK
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AO Spine Comprehensive Classification of Adult Spinal Deformity (AOASD)
Principal investigator:
J Naresh-Babu
Co-Principal investigators:
Manabu Ito, Jong-Beom Park, Kenny Kwan
Goals:
Aims to develop comprehensive classification that separates patients into clinically different subgroups that require different treatment strategies
Documents:
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*/** Spinal Deformity Intraoperative Monitoring (SDIM)
Principal investigator:
Stephen LewisCo-Principal investigators:
Lawrence Lenke, Nasir QuraishiGoals:
Aims to determine the incidence of intraoperative neuromonitoring alerts in complex, high-risk, spinal deformity surgeries and identify the events that lead to such alertsRemark:
This project was awarded with a Standard Research Grant (2018) from the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS).Documents:
Publication summaryClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03880292
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Complication Classification System of Spinal Deformity Surgery (CCS-SDS)
Principal investigator:
Sigurd Berven
Co-Principal investigators:
Lawrence Lenke, Christopher Shaffrey
Goals:
Aims to develop and validate a reliable system for categorizing and classifying various complications during and following adult spinal deformity surgery
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* Evaluation of neurologic complications associated with surgical correction of adult spinal deformity (Scoli-RISK 1): five-year extension
A prospective, observational, multi-center study
Principal investigator:
Lawrence Lenke
Co-Principal investigators:
Michael Fehlings
Goals:
Aims to establish the long-term risk of neurologic deficit related to the surgical correction of adult spinal deformity and to identify characteristics associated with an increased risk of neurologic complications related to surgery at five-year postoperative
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02949245
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* Prospective Evaluation of Elderly Deformity Surgery (PEEDS): five-year extension
A prospective observational, multicenter study
Principal investigator:
Stephen Lewis
Co-Principal investigators:
Sigurd Berven
Goals:
Aims to show an improvement in SRS-22 total score between baseline and 24 months and five years after surgery in patients at age 60 or older treated with major spinal reconstruction (spinal fusion of at least five levels) for adult spinal deformity
Documents:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02035280
* This AO Spine-sponsored study is executed with support from the AO Innovation Translation Center (AO ITC).
** Award-winning project
Completed research projects
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*/** Evaluation of neurologic complications associated with surgical correction of adult spinal deformity (Scoli-RISK 1)
A prospective, observational, multi-center study
Principal investigator:
Lawrence Lenke
Co-Principal investigators:
Michael Fehlings
Goals:
Aim was to establish the risk of neurologic deficit related to surgical correction of adult spinal deformity and to identify characteristics associated with increased risk of neurologic complications related to the surgery
Remark:
This project received co-funding from the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) and Norton Healthcare
Documents:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01305343
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FLEXIbility in Scoliosis (FLEXIS)
Comparison of dynamic radiographs in determining fusion level in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis correction
Principal investigator:
Kenny Kwan
Co-Principal investigators:
Kenneth Cheung, Ahmet Alanay
Goals:
Aims to identify the dynamic radiograph(s) that can most accurately predict the curve behavior after surgical correction in patients diagnosed with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
Documents:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03296228
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Identification of a core outcome set for spinal deformity surgery (COSSCO)
Core Outcome Set for SCOliosis (COSSCO)
Principal investigator:
Marinus de Kleuver
Co-Principal investigators:
David Polly
Goals:
Aim was to develop a core outcome set specific to spinal deformity that represents the minimum that should be measured and reported in all outcome registries of a specific condition
Documents:
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An international consensus on the appropriate treatment for adults with spinal deformity (ASD Consensus)
Principal investigator:
Sigurd Berven
Co-Principal investigators:
Marinus de Kleuver
Goals:
Aim was to identify goals of care and management strategies that are appropriate for adult spinal deformity patients based upon worldwide expert opinion
Documents:
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An international consensus on the surgical treatment standards for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS Consensus)
Principal investigator:
Marinus de Kleuver
Co-Principal investigators:
Manabu Ito
Goals:
Aim was to investigate what constitutes optimal operative care for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients between 12 and 20 years of age with curves ranging from 40 to 90 degrees Cobb angle
Documents:
* This AO Spine-sponsored study is executed with support from AO Clinical Investigation and Documentation (AO CID).
** Award-winning project
KF Deformity Steering Committee

Stephen Lewis
Chairperson
Toronto Western Hospital
Toronto, Canada

Marinus de Kleuver
Radboud University Medical Center
Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Lawrence Lenke
Columbia University New York,
New York, USA

Sigurd Berven
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco, USA

Ahmed Alanay
Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar
University School of Medicine
Istanbul, Turkey

Kenneth Cheung
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China

Yukihiro Matsuyama
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
Hamamatsu, Japan

David Polly
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, USA
KF Advisory Board

Yong Qiu
Nanjing University
Nanjing, China

Christopher Shaffrey
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, USA
KF Deformity Associate Members
Christopher Ames, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
Saumyajit Basu, Kothari Medical Center and Park Clinic, Kolkata, India
Anastasios Charalampidis, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden
André Luis Fernandes Andújar, Hospital Infantil Joana de Gusmão, Florianópolis, Brazil
Munish Gupta, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
So Kato, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Eric Klineberg, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
Michael Kelly, Washington University, St Louis, MO, USA
Kenny Kwan, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Venugopal (KV) Menon, Sparsh Hospital, Karnataka, India
J Naresh-Babu, Mallika Spine Center, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Christopher Nielsen, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Canada
Tim O’Connor, University at Buffalo Neurosurgery, Buffalo, NY, USA
Ferran Pellisé, Spine Unit Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
Zeeshan Sardar, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Justin Smith, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Miranda van Hooff, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Emiliano Vialle, Cajuru University Hospital, Catholic University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil
Caglar Yilgor, Acibadem Maslak Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Knowledge Forum Manager

“There is a myriad of outcome studies and instruments out there; everybody uses different tools to measure their quality of care. We help bring more rationale to the options that are available.”
Marinus de Kleuver, Past Chairperson KF Deformity, Research Commission member