foot function

Retinoic acid receptor α (RARα) plays a crucial role in kidney disease. However, the underlying mechanisms in glomerulosclerosis (GS) is still not clear. The roles of RARα in an adriamycin (ADR)-induced GS rat model and in ADR-induced podocyte injury in vitro were investigated. RARα was over-expressed in GS rats, and serum, urine and kidney samples were collected to detect the induction of the expression of the receptor. RARα expression was inhibited and/or over-expressed in cultured podocytes following injury, as demonstrated by morphometric assays, cell toxicity, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymatic activity...

BACKGROUND: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common complication of Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Apart from hyperglycemia, its pathogenesis is poorly understood. Apolipoprotein-CIII (apoC-III) associated with triglyceride metabolism, is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Its role in DPN is not well-established. We studied the associations of apoC-III, endothelial function and DPN. METHODS: In patients with T2D, anthropometric data, fasting blood, and urine were collected for biochemistry and urine albumin/creatinine measurements (uACR)...

Pedobarography and the centre of pressure (COP) progression is useful to understand foot function. Pedobarography is often unavailable in gait laboratories or completed asynchronously to kinematic and kinetic data collection. This paper presents a model that allows calculation of COP progression synchronously using force plate data. The model is an adjunct to Plug-In-Gait and was applied to 49 typically developing children to create reference COP data. COP progressions were noted to spend 8% of stance behind the ankle joint centre, traverse lateral of the longitudinal axis of the foot through the midfoot for 76% of stance and finishing past the second metatarsal head on the medial side for 16% of stance...

Osteopontin (OPN) and clusterin are secreted glycoproteins potentially associated with nerve function. Sudomotor dysfunction is associated with the development of foot ulcerations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential relationship of OPN and clusterin with sudomotor function (i.e., autonomic nerves that control sweating) in participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Sudomotor function was assessed using SUDOSCAN® which measures electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) of the hands and feet...

PURPOSE: The relationship between the duration of operative time (DOT), healing response and patient outcome has not been previously investigated. An enhanced healing response related to DOT may potentiate repair processes, especially in hypovascular and sparsely metabolized musculoskeletal tissues such as tendons. This study aimed to investigate the association between DOT and the metabolic healing response, patient-reported outcome and the rate of post-operative complications after acute Achilles tendon injury...

AIM: To develop pathogenetically justified surgical treatment of diabetic neuroosteoarthropathy (DNOAP). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 52 patients were operated and long-term results were studied in 36 of them. 2 groups were assessed depending on completeness of surgical treatment including changed synovial structures removal. Tarso-metatarsal arthrodesis was created after synovectomy in median foot to restore longitudinal arch. Cruro-calcaneal neoarthrosis was performed after elimination of posterior focus of DNOAP...

BACKGROUND: Although arthroscopic surgical treatment of the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint involves painful sesamoid excision, synovectomy, debridement, and partial cheilectomy, no gold standard treatment technique has been defined in the literature for hallux rigidus and focal osteochondral lesions. This study aimed to assess the arthroscopic treatment for early-grade focal osteochondral lesions of the first MTP joint and to determine the impact of arthroscopic microhole drill surgery on foot function and activities of daily living in a group of patients who failed conservative treatment...

PURPOSE: Chondroblastoma (CB) is a rare benign tumor that occurs most commonly in the second decade of life. No studies on CB in adulthood have been reported. Our purposes were to report a single-institution experience on CB in adults and to discuss the clinical and imaging findings, type of treatment, oncologic and functional outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients diagnosed and treated for CB from 1981 to 2014 were reviewed. The main inclusion criterion was patients above their 30 years of age at diagnosis...

Foot involvement is common in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) but is often unrecognized and difficult to treat. This study was done to assess clinical and radiological involvement of the feet and its impact on function in Indian children with enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA). We enrolled consecutive children with ERA with disease duration of less than 5 years. All patients underwent clinical examination of the feet and filled the juvenile arthritis foot index (JAFI) questionnaire. Ultrasound (US) of foot joints and entheses and extremity magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of one foot were done...

Dislocation of the talus is a serious and extremely rare injury, with 86 cases reported in the published data in 20 years. The reference standard for case management involves replacement of the dislocated talus to restore the height and function of the tibiotalar joint. The risk of avascular necrosis remains very high, and the standard treatment in such cases is tibiotalar arthrodesis. We report the case of total dislocation of the talus, which was treated with the insertion of a custom total talar prosthesis affixed directly to the tibial cartilage at 6 months after injury...

Although ankle arthrodesis is the reference standard for end-stage ankle arthritis, loss of mobility and adjacent joint arthritis are consequences that alternatives to arthrodesis attempt to avoid. The purpose of the present study was to report the clinical results of interpositional arthroplasty using acellular dermal matrix in 4 patients (age 32 to 42 years) for the treatment of advanced ankle osteoarthritis. The primary findings included relief of pain, with improvement in tibiotalar joint range of motion from a mean of 16...

The present study evaluated the restoration of joint function in a special clinical case: a professional rock climber who underwent an original total talonavicular replacement with a custom-made prosthesis after a complex articular fracture. Full body gait analysis and 3-dimensional joint kinematics using single-plane fluoroscopy were performed on the same day at the 30-month follow-up examination. Gait analysis was performed using stereophotogrammetric, dynamometric, electromyographic, and baropodometric systems...

The initial treatment of plantar fasciitis should be conservative, with most cases responding to standard physiotherapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), heel pads, and stretching. In cases of chronic refractory symptoms, more invasive treatment could be necessary. Noninvasive interactive neurostimulation (NIN) is a form of electric therapy that works by locating areas of lower skin impedance. The objective of the present prospective randomized controlled study was to evaluate whether the use of NIN for chronic plantar fasciitis could result in greater improvement in a foot functional score, lower levels of reported pain, reduced patient consumption of NSAIDs, and greater patient satisfaction compared with electric shockwave therapy in patients without a response to standard conservative treatment...

We determined and compared the effectiveness of low-level laser therapy (LLLT), therapeutic ultrasound (US) therapy, and extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We performed a randomized, prospective, comparative clinical study. A total of 60 patients with a diagnosis of chronic plantar fasciitis were divided randomly into 3 treatment groups: group 1 underwent 15 sessions of LLLT (8 J/cm(2); 830 nm); group 2 underwent 15 sessions of continuous US (1 mHz; 2 W/cm(2)); and group 3 underwent 3 sessions of ESWT (2000 shocks)...

In the present retrospective analysis, we introduce a custom suture-button fixation device for acute ankle syndesmotic injuries that allows for early weightbearing without another planned operation for hardware removal. We evaluated 87 consecutive ankles in 87 patients (49 males [56.32%] and 38 females [43.68%]). Of the 87 patients, 15 (17.24%) withdrew or were lost to follow-up, leaving 72 patients (82.76%) in the present study. Their mean age was 35.2 (range 17 to 67) years. Nineteen patients (26.39%) presented with a pure syndesmotic disruption, and 53 (73...

Computational models of diarthrodial joints serve to inform the biomechanical function of these structures, and as such, must be supplied appropriate inputs for performance that is representative of actual joint function. Inputs for these models are sourced from both imaging modalities as well as literature. The latter is often the source of mechanical properties for soft tissues, like ligament stiffnesses; however, such data is not always available for all soft tissues nor is it known for patient specific work...

INTRODUCTION: Subtalar dislocation is an uncommon lesion in traumatology chiefly when it concerns the lateral form. Surgical treatment is required when a fracture is related or the dislocation is irreducible. Even well treated, these dislocations progress unavoidably to subtalar arthrosis, which stays well tolerated. CASE REPORT: A 46-year-old male with irreducible lateral subtalar dislocation caused sustentaculum tali incarceration confirmed on computed tomography (CT)...

Primary somatosensory cortex (S1) processes somatosensory information and is composed of multiple subregions. In particular, tactile information from the skin is encoded in three subregions, namely Brodmann areas (BAs) 3b, 1 and 2, with each area representing a complete map of the contralateral body. Although, much is known about the somatotopic organization of the hand in human S1, less research has been carried out regarding the somatotopic maps of the foot and leg in S1. Moreover, a latero-medial S1 organization along the superior part of the postcentral gyrus has been reported when moving from hip to toes, yet to date there is no study investigating leg/foot maps within the different subregions of S1...

AIMS: This aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the herd and cow-level prevalence of bovine digital dermatitis (BDD) in dairy farms in the northern Taranaki region of New Zealand, and to identify whether there was any spatial clustering of herds with the disease. METHODS: A survey of 224 dairy farms in the northern Taranaki region of New Zealand was undertaken from September 2014 to February 2015. Following training in robust criteria to confirm BDD visually, a technician inspected the rear feet of every milking cow on the farms during milking...

In the frst part of the paper, we study the stability of antiferromagnetic (AF), charge density wave (CDW), and superconducting (SC) states within the t-J-U-V model of strongly correlated electrons by using the statistically consistent Gutzwiller approximation (SGA). We concentrate on the role of the intersite Coulomb interaction term V in stabilizing the CDW phase. In particular, we show that the charge ordering appears only above a critical value of V in a limited hole-doping range $\delta$. The effect of the V term on SC and AF phases is that a strong interaction suppresses SC, whereas the AF order is not significantly influenced by its presence...