Scoliosis the skin for "café au lait" spots, indicative of neurofibromatosis, the feet for cavovarus deformity, abdominal reflexes and muscle tone for spasticity. When a person can cooperate, he or she is asked to bend forward as far as possible. This is known as the Adams forward bend test and is often performed on school students. If a prominence is noted, then scoliosis is a possibility and an X-ray may be done to confirm the diagnosis. As an alternative, a scoliometer may be used to diagnose the condition. When scoliosis is suspected, weight-bearing, full-spine AP/coronal (front-back view) and lateral/sagittal (side view)
Scoliosis is due to genetic factors, and 62% is due to the environment. The genetics are likely complex, however, given the inconsistent inheritance and discordance among monozygotic twins. The specific genes that contribute to development of scoliosis have not been conclusively identified. At least one gene, "CHD7", has been associated with the idiopathic form of scoliosis. Several candidate gene studies have found associations between idiopathic scoliosis and genes mediating bone formation, bone metabolism, and connective tissue structure. Several genome-wide studies have identified a number of loci as significantly linked to idiopathic scoliosis. In 2006, idiopathic scoliosis was linked with three microsatellite