The length and ash weight of the ribs of normal and scoliotic persons.

The length and ash weight of ribs were studied in cadaveric specimens from 10 women and eight men with normal spines and from 15 women with scoliosis, six of them with idiopathic right convex thoracic curves. In each case, three rib pairs were removed, those from the scoliotic women corresponding to the apex and the suprajacent and subjacent vertebrae, and those from the normal male and female subjects usually being the 7th-9th. Between the female and the male control groups, there was a significant difference in rib length asymmetry, expressed as the mean of the left minus right difference for the three rib pairs for each person. The difference in ash weight was not significant. There was a significant mean difference in rib length asymmetry between the six patients with right convex thoracic idiopathic scoliosis (concave minus convex rib) and the group of normal females (left minus right rib). Ash weight displayed no significant differences. In five of the six patients with right convex thoracic scoliosis the left ribs of the three examined pairs were on average longer than the right ribs, but the difference was not significant.