Growth in vertebral height ceases in girls at or before the age of sixteen, the average age being fourteen; in boys, at or before the age of seventeen, the average age being sixteen.
Increase in curvature in scoliosis ceases when vertebral growth stops.
The spine grows slowly in boys from the ages of four to eleven, and in girls from the ages of three to nine; but growth is rapid in adolescence. Rapidity of increase of curvature corresponds to rapidity of growth.
The relation of increase of curvature to growth is not materially influenced by the etiology of the curve.
The effectiveness of various methods of treating scoliosis for prevention of progress of curvature must be judged in adolescent patients who have not ceased growing. After growth has ceased, treatment for this purpose is superfluous.