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6964435 
Journal Article 
Polygenic threshold model with sex dimorphism in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: the Carter effect 
Kruse, LM; Buchan, JG; Gurnett, CA; Dobbs, MB; , 
2012 
1 
Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery: American Volume
ISSN: 0021-9355
EISSN: 1535-1386 
English 
22992817 
Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis occurs between two and ten times more frequently in females than in males. The exact cause of this sex discrepancy is unknown, but it may represent a difference in susceptibility to the deformity. If this difference is attributable to genetic factors, then males with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis would need to inherit a greater number of susceptibility genes compared with females to develop the deformity. Males would also be more likely to transmit the disease to their children and to have siblings with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Such a phenomenon is known as the Carter effect, and the presence of such an effect would support a multifactorial threshold model of inheritance.