In July 2018, the 25th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques (IMAST) was held in Los Angeles, America. IMAST annual meeting is presently one of the world’s top conferences on spinal surgery, hosted by the academically acclaimed Scoliosis Research Society (SRS). Our spinal surgery team was invited and gave several reports, impressing the world with its research on early onset scoliosis (EOS).

EOS, referring to those happened before ten, has been one of the biggest headaches of spine doctors. Of them, congenital scoliosis is the most common deformity, and those of hemivertebral body are the most complicated and challenging ones. Our team, led by Professor Zhang Jianguo, made tremendous efforts on the diagnosis and treatment of congenital scoliosis, especially early onset ones. They stick to the idea of early intervention and best result at minimum cost, and are acclaimed by colleagues at home and abroad.

At the meeting, Wang Shengru from Orthopedics, on behalf of teams led by Professor Zhang Jianguo and Professor Tian Ye, gave a report on their treatment results of C7/T1 congenital deformity, which is always a difficult part of spine surgery. The research features the largest number of cases of its kind, fills in a blank and is of great medical significance.

Professor David Polly, former chairman of SRS, is a world renowned expert on spinal orthotics. He spoke highly of the PUMCH research and, after the meeting, had a distance communication on a case of his own with Professor Zhang.