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A radiographic comparative study of two series of skeletally mature clubfeet treated by two different protocols

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Abstract

Objective

To compare the radiographic features of two series of congenital clubfeet to determine whether a different treatment protocol may influence the radiographic results at the end of skeletal growth.

Design and patients

Two series of patients with congenital clubfeet, treated by two different manipulative techniques and by two different complementary soft tissue release operations, were radiographically studied at skeletal maturity. Twenty-one normal feet of the unilateral cases in both series served as controls. Anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of the feet were taken with the patient standing, and several radiographic parameters were studied.

Results and conclusions

The size of the talus and calcaneus and the height of the talar trochlea were smaller than normal in all cases of clubfeet, were similar in both series and were not influenced by treatment, whereas all the other radiographic parameters studied were more or less different between the two series and seemed to be influenced by treatment. In no treated clubfoot of either series was a normal radiographic foot anatomy restored, not even in those feet that had an excellent clinical result.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the S. Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy. Thanks are due to Mr. Riccardo Gaigher for his technical assistance and to Dr. Giovanna Brancato for the statistical analysis of the results.

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Correspondence to E. Ippolito.

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Ippolito, E., Fraracci, L., Caterini, R. et al. A radiographic comparative study of two series of skeletally mature clubfeet treated by two different protocols. Skeletal Radiol 32, 446–453 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-003-0620-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-003-0620-6

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