Abstract
Background
Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease is the most common inherited nerve disorder and typically
presents with pes cavus foot deformity and ankle equinus during childhood. Level in
the variation of symmetry of musculoskeletal lower limb involvement across the clinical
population is unknown, despite early reports describing gross asymmetry.
Methods
We measured foot alignment and ankle flexibility of the left and right limbs using
accurate and reliable standardised paediatric outcome measures in 172 patients aged
3–20 years with a variety of disease subtypes recruited from the United States, United
Kingdom, Italy and Australia.
Findings
While a large range of differences existed between left and right feet for a small
proportion of children, there was no overall significant difference between limbs.
Interpretation
There are two important implications of these findings. Children with Charcot–Marie–Tooth
disease generally exhibit symmetrical foot alignment and ankle flexibility between
limbs. As such, analysing one limb only for biomechanical-related research is appropriate
and satisfies the independence requirements for statistical analysis. However, because
there are large differences between feet for a small proportion of children, an individualised
limb-focused approach to clinical care is required.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 19, 2012
Accepted:
February 16,
2012
Received:
December 7,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
