This paper describes the method of measuring and assessing the pressure distribution under typical feet and the feet of patients with deformities such as: planovalgus, clubfoot, and pes planus using a pedobarograph. Foot pressure distribution was measured during static and walking at individual normal walking speed. Time-series pressure measurements for all sensors were grouped into five anatom...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Distraction osteogenesis may be used for the treatment of brachymetatarsia. However, few reports have been published on first metatarsal lengthening by this method. We evaluated the complications of distraction osteogenesis for first brachymetatarsia and here we provide a solution. PATIENTS AND METHODS 16 patients (27 feet) underwent distraction osteogenesis for first b...

OBJECTIVE Abnormal foot posture and function have been proposed as possible risk factors for low back pain, but this has not been examined in detail. The objective of this study was to explore the associations of foot posture and foot function with low back pain in 1930 members of the Framingham Study (2002-05). METHODS Low back pain, aching or stiffness on most days was documented on a body ...

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) or hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (HMSN) is the most common inherited neuropathy with an estimated prevalence of 40 in 100,000 people1. It belongs to a large, heterogeneous, and complex group of genetically determined neuropathies with autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X-linked inheritance. At least 51 genes have already been associated with ...

INTRODUCTION Friedreich's ataxia is a neurodegenerative disorder whose clinical diagnostic criteria for typical cases basically include: a) early age of onset (< 20 or 25 years), b) autosomal recessive inheritance, c) progressive ataxia of limbs and gait, and d) absence of lower limb tendon reflexes. METHODS We studied the frequency and the size of expanded GAA and their influence on neurolog...

BACKGROUND Alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) is a rare neurological disorder that manifests recurrent attacks of hemiplegia, oculogyric, and choreoathetotic involuntary movements. De novo mutations in ATP1A3 cause three types of neurological diseases: AHC; rapid-onset dystonia-Parkinsonism (RDP); and cerebellar ataxia, areflexia, pes cavus, optic atrophy, and sensorineural hearing loss ...

BACKGROUND Gymnasts usually start intensive training from early childhood. The impact of such strenuous training on the musculoskeletal system is not clear. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the relation between muscle strength of the ankle joint and foot structure in gymnasts. METHODS The study population comprised 20 high level male gymnasts and 17 non-athletic healthy male controls. Arch indices we...

Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) is a form of neuropathy that was fi rst described by Nikolaus Friedreich in a series of 5 papers published from 1863-1877 (1). Freidreich was a third generation physician from Heidelberg, Germany. His grandfather was the fi rst to describe idiopathic facial paralysis, also known as Bell’s palsy. Friedreich trained to be a pathologist under Rudolf Virchow, who proposed...

OBJECTIVE To illustrate that a patient with distal spinal muscular atrophy can recover gait with a combination of orthoses and orthopaedic shoes. SUBJECT A 28-year-old man with distal spinal muscular atrophy affecting only the distal muscles of the lower limbs. Clinical examination showed a bilateral pes cavus with a varus and a 90 degrees equinus of the ankle joint. METHODS The patient was...

The complex mechanics of the ankle joint complex depends highly on the integrity of the ankle ligaments. An incomplete restoration of the antero-fibular ligament after trauma may result in a mechanical dissociation of the talus from the ankle mortise. The force that is needed to induce a non-physiological movement of the foot is determined by the individual configuration of the bony and articul...