Researchers at Washington University (WU) School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, have found what they believe to be the most common cause of inherited clubfoot yet discovered.
According to a WU press release, by performing a routine genetic screening on 66 patients with an inherited form of clubfoot, Christina Gurnett, MD, PhD, a WU pediatric geneticist and neurologist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri, and her colleagues found abnormalities in a region of chromosome 17 in four patients. Three of the patients had small recurrent DNA duplications, and one had a small recurrent DNA deletion on chromosome 17.
Matthew B. Dobbs, MD, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at WU, says the findings may prompt orthopedic surgeons to consider this readily available genetic screening test for children who have inherited clubfoot and may be at risk of hip abnormalities.
In addition to Dobbs and Gurnett, the authors of the study include WU School of Medicine students David M. Alvarado, Hyuliya Aferol, Kevin McCall, Jason B. Huang, Matthew Techy, Jillian Buchan, Janet Cady, and Patrick R. Gonzales.
