Sunday, September 26, 2010

Club Foot

Along with spina bifida, Ruth was also born with bilateral club foot (meaning she has club foot on both feet). Club foot can be isolated, but it is also very common to see with spina bifida, so it may be a result of nerve damage.

According to Wikipedia:

A clubfoot, or congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV), is a congenital deformity involving one foot or both. The affected foot appears rotated internally at the ankle. Without treatment, persons afflicted often appear to walk on their ankles, or on the sides of their feet. It is a common birth defect, occurring in about one in every 1,000 live births. Approximately 50% of cases of clubfoot are bilateral. This occurs in males more often than in females by a ratio of 2:1.


Ruth will see an Orthopedist at Scottish Rite Hospital towards the end of next month for evaluation and treatment. Treatment often entails a series of whole leg castings to bring the feet back in their proper position. We are also doing, and have been since shortly after her birth, range of motion excercises to hopefully help.

Our 2nd daughter was born with bilateral club foot. She was diagnosed at about 16 weeks in utero. She was seen at Scottish Rite twice, but beyond range of motion excercises, no treatment was required. She is now 7 years old, and one would never know!

G's feet - 2 weeks old
Ruth's feet - 6 weeks old


We do expect Ruth will require treatment, her club feet seem more severe than our other daughters were, and also because of her having spina bifida. But she does have good range of motion in her feet now, and we are hopeful her treatment/castings will be short!