CONGENITAL ELEVATION OF THE SCAPULA

Abstract

Although congenital elevation of the scapula was described in 1863 by Eulenburg,¹the name of Sprengel,²who reported 4 cases in 1891 and who thought that his was the first description of the condition, commonly is given to the deformity. Sprengel's report was preceded also by an excellent description of a case, including autopsy observations and an interesting discussion of the significance of the omovertebral connection, by Willet and Walsham³in 1880. They reported a second case in 1883.⁴Since then the condition has attracted much attention, and many interesting papers have been written about it, notably those by Horwitz,⁵Grieg⁶and Schrock.⁷Apparently little remains to be added to the knowledge of the subject except development of a more satisfactory method of treating the deformity. There can be little doubt that this is a true congenital deformity due to a defect in