| Popis: |
Investigators, who have had difficulty defining the exact nature of the clubfoot deformity,10 usually apply the term clubfoot to any human limb in which the foot remains congenitally positioned in rigid equinus, varus, and adductus. Since clubfoot may be seen in combination with disparate syndromes,23 including chromosomal abnormalities and with other limb deformities, clubfoot may result from a number of different pathologic mechanisms.10 Previously proposed etiologies, therefore, have included genetic mutations, as well as mechanical or neurogenic deformation. In the course of studying various human lower limb defects,7 we have observed that limbs with a clubfoot almost always contain consistent arterial pattern anomalies.4,24 Based in part on this observation, we propose a vascular etiology for the origin of clubfoot. |
