Thoracic kyphosis: range in normal subjects.

Thoracic kyphosis was measured on chest radiographs of 316 "normal" subjects by means of a modification of the Cobb technique for measuring scoliosis. Patients were accepted as "normal" if they had no thoracic or spinal complaints or radiographic abnormalities in the chest including the thoracic spine. A total of 159 males and 157 female subjects 2-77 years old was studied. The relation among age, gender, and kyphosis were determined using least squares fits of first-order linear mathematical models. These results were also used to determine the expected ranges of kyphosis for a "normal" patient of a given age and gender. The degree of kyphosis increased with age and the rate of increase was higher in females than in males. Clinical explanations for this differential increase are discussed.