Exploring the Causes of Clubfoot Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI

Overview

The purpose of this study is to: 1. compare structural variations observed in the calf and foot of the clubfoot mouse model(pma)with human clubfoot patients antenatally and postnatally; 2. identify features that might be used in future large scale studies to delineate a subtype of human clubfoot associated with lack of response to standard 'Ponseti' manipulation treatments.

Clubfoot is a medical condition of the foot known to doctors as "Congenital Talipes Equinovarus (CTEV)", which affects at least 2 per 1000 Scottish births (ISD data). Affected babies are born with one or both feet in an abnormal position. Treatment with plaster casts, and occasionally with surgery, is necessary to get the foot into a normal position. We know from our animal and clinical studies and published work that the normal processes of development of the foot continue through pregnancy and postnatally. Clubfoot has never been studied by MRI antenatally in humans, and examination of the foot before birth may offer aetiological clues, not apparent from a single postnatal scan. Additionally, robust information that will help to understand which features of clubfoot in utero predict a truly affected fetus could be very useful for the clinical care of those suspected to be affected at a 20 week scan. This study will provide preliminary data to determine whether the usefulness of MRI in this context should be explored in future studies.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)