OBJECTIVES To delineate the epidemiology of Charcot foot in Hong Kong Chinese diabetic patients, and to provide baseline data for benchmarking the clinic service for this special group of patients. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS Diabetic patients with Charcot foot and age- and sex-matched diabetic foot clinic attendees between 1995 and 20...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Charcot neuropathy is characterized by bone destruction in a foot leading to deformity, instability, and risk of amputation. Little is known about the pathogenic mechanisms. We hypothesized that the bone-regulating Wnt/β-catenin and RANKL/OPG pathways have a role in Charcot arthropathy. PATIENTS AND METHODS 24 consecutive Charcot patients were treated by off-loading, an...

Charcot osteoarthropathy or Charcot foot is a disabling complication of diabetes and is associated with poor prognosis and high mortality. Its pathogenesis is not fully understood and its treatment is at best symptomatic. Furthermore, it is not known whether there is a specific type of neuropathy which affects osteoclastic activity, and thereby leads to reduction of bone mineral density and the...

Since the initial descriptions of Charcot-Leyden crystals more than 100 years ago, the presence of these slender, dipyramidal crystals in human tissues and biologic fluids has become a hallmark of eosinophilic leukocyte infiltration, especially in association with allergic and helminthic diseases. The formation of these crystals in vitro after disruption of human eosinophils, but not of other c...

C harcot's pupil, Joseph Babinski, once declared, " To take away from neurology all the discoveries made by Charcot would be to render it unrecognizable. " Before Charcot, textbooks provided only brief and inaccurate descriptions of the central nervous system, and classifi ed as neuroses diseases like epilepsy, chorea and tetanus. Neurology as a discipline was non-existent. Jean-Martin Charcot ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Charcot foot is a rare but devastating complication of diabetes. Little research is available on the mental health impact of Charcot foot. Aim of the study is to assess mental health in diabetes patients with Charcot foot and to investigate the moderating effects of socio-demographic factors. The severity of the problem will be statistically evaluated with the help of a referenc...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The incidence of diabetic Charcot neuroarthropathy has increased. The purpose here was to study the current diagnostics and treatment of the Charcot foot. MATERIALS AND METHODS During a time period from 1994 to 2000, a total of 36 feet were diagnosed as cases of diabetic Charcot neuroarthropathies. A retrospective analysis of patient records and radiographs was undertaken....

BACKGROUND Proinflammatory cytokines are an integral part of the osteolytic activity of Charcot arthropathy but are also central to normal bone healing. As there are no previous longitudinal studies investigating their role during the recovery phase of Charcot, we set out to monitor systemic levels of proinflammatory cytokines from Charcot presentation until a clinically and radiographically do...

OBJECTIVE To describe the relationship between Professor Charcot and Brazil. BACKGROUND During the XIX century, French Neurology and its most prominent figure, Professor Charcot, dominated the area of nervous system diseases in the world. METHOD We have reviewed some of the main publications about Charcot's life, the biography of Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil and the development of Neurol...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical efficacy of zoledronic acid in patients with diabetes and acute Charcot neuroarthropathy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Thirty-nine consecutive patients were randomly assigned to placebo or three intravenous infusions of 4 mg zoledronic acid. The primary outcome was clinical resolution of acute Charcot neuroarthropathy determined by total immobilization tim...