Kyphoscoliosis, a three‐dimensional deformity of spinal growth, is characterized by a curvature in the coronal plane (scoliosis) in conjunction with thoracic kyphosis in excess of the normal range in the sagittal plane. We identified kyphoscoliosis within members of seven families (53 individuals) originally ascertained as part of a large collaborative study of familial idiopathic scoliosis. Model‐independent linkage analysis of a genome‐wide microsatellite screen identified areas suggestive of linkage on chromosomes 2q22, 5p13, 13q, and 17q11. Single‐point and multipoint analyses of an additional 25 flanking microsatellite markers corroborated linkage to these regions, with areas on chromosomes 5p13, 13q13, and 13q32 being the most significant (P < 0.005). Analyses of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in the candidate region on chromosome 5 narrowed the region to approximately 3.5 Mb (P < 0.05), with the most significant P values (P < 0.01) occurring in approximately a 1.3‐Mb region. Candidate loci in this region include IRX1, IRX2, and IRX4 of the Iroquois Homeobox protein family. On chromosome 13, single‐point and multipoint analyses resulted in multiple SNPs having P values < 0.05 within five candidate genes: Osteoblast‐specific factor 2 or periostin, forkhead box O1A, A‐kinase anchor protein 11, TBC1 domain family member 4, and glypican 5, thus supporting the potential relevance of this region in the pathogenesis of kyphoscoliosis. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.