Re: Can anyone tell me what kind of clubfoot this is? Any others out there like it?

[Guest guest]

Even before the first cast, her feet never pointed towards each other at all.

They were

just more curved backwards (like crescent rolls) before the first cast.

Actually, that

first week of casting didn't change them very much.

Her feet are not the only thing we're dealing with. She also has a hand that is

being

splinted because her wrist was not straight. I have a bicornuate uterus and

fibroids

and the baby was squished in a bad position for the first 19 weeks of my

pregnancy.

They seem to think the deformity is positional, and the feet may have been

inherited

from her grandfather (also born with CF shaped like hers), but we are having a

meeting with a genetics guy this week to rule out AMC.

I think I would like to contact Dr. Ponseti. Everyone seems to think he'd

answer and

I'm really having some doubts about her treatment. At her visit when she got

the DBB,

her doctor never even looked at her feet. I'm also concerned about whether she

needs

the typical overcorrection if she doesn't have all the elements of the typical

club foot.

Does anyone have Dr. Ponseti's contact information?

I'm ready to drive to Iowa if it's what it'll take to have it " done once and

done right! " ...

Thanks all!

> > ,

> >

> > You say that those photos were AFTER the first cast. That is how

> the feet SHOULD look after the first cast. One of the first things

> the doctor does is to supinate the foot, which means to make the toes

> point downward. Once the tenotomy is done, her feet will no longer

> point down like that.

> >

> > The Dennis Browne brace is the most effective brace for preventing

> clubfoot relapse. It helps to hold the foot in dorsiflexion (flexed

> up a bit , like if you flex your own foot up towards your shin) and

> to hold the exterior rotation (turn your foot out to the side) that

> helps prevent the muscles and ligaments from tightening back up and

> making the clubfoot come back. Even the the custom made

> brace - used for children whose feet wont stay in the normal shoes -

> is made in the " dennis Browne " style. Some doctors use AFO's, but Dr

> Ponseti showed many years ago that in *most* cases, an AFO is not

> near as effective as a DBB (Dennis Browne Bar) in holding correction,

> expecially since they do not hold exterior rotation. There are some

> here who use a combination of AFO's and DBB, but those children tend

> to have other issues than just clubfoot.

> >

> > Please do not hesitate to ask any and all questions you may have.

> Your doctor, from the sounds of it, is using the Ponseti Method. It

> is one of the least invasive methods available for treating clubfoot,

> and has been proven successful for over 50 years. If you want, you

> can also e-mail or call Dr. Ponseti (I dont have the address or phone

> # handy, but someone will provide them for you). Also, Dr. Colburn

> in California will answer e-mails, as will Dr. Mosca in Seattle, as

> well as several other well experienced Ponseti Method doctors.

> Anytime you think you might want a second opinion, do not hesitate to

> contact another doctor. You can find e-mail and phone addresses here:

> >

> http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/orthopaedics/clubfeet/physicians.h

> tml

> >

> > Hope this was of some help to you. :-)

> >

> > Angel

> >

> > Can anyone tell me what kind of

> clubfoot this is? Any others out there like it?

> >

> >

> > Hi Everyone,

> >

> > I just discovered this group. Ordinarily, I'm the type who would

> seek out support and

> > information from day one but since the baby was born I hardly ever

> get to the

> > computer anymore!

> >

> > My daughter was born with bilateral club feet. They don't look

> like the other club feet

> > I have found pictures of so far. Her toes pointed straight down

> and the feet didn't

> > turn towards each other. Here's a link to pictures of her feet

> after the first cast

> > change: http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/r/l/rlg187/clubfoot/

> >

> > Devlin was casted at 12 days old, and she had a tenotomy at 7+

> weeks old. She is

> > being treated at DuPont Children's Hospital in Delaware. She is

> now 10 weeks old and

> > will be getting her casts off and get a brace next week. I _think_

> they're planning to

> > give her the " Denis Brown " type of brace. It seems to me like that

> kind wouldn't be as

> > good at maintaining the correction for this type of club foot as

> the " typical " kind, but I

> > don't know much!

> >

> > Is there anyone else out there with this type of club foot? Does

> anyone know what it's

> > called? What type of bracing or splinting seems to work best in

> this kind of case? Is

> > anyone else being treated at DuPont?

> >

> > Thanks so much for your advice and support. I wish I had found

> this site earlier!

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

,

Dr. Ponseti's contact information is below for you. If you'd like

some encouragement about traveling for her foot care, I can give you

some. We traveled from Michigan to Iowa (in the middle of the

winter!) for the care of our daugher Sophia starting when she was 2

weeks old. We traveled by air for the first visit and then drove (9

hours each way) on our subsequent 2 week stay to complete the

correction of her feet. It really wasn't a big deal. Honest. A

second opinion is always worthwhile. It's not very expensive

(relatively speaking) and can really set your mind at ease about your

child's development. Good luck to you whatever you do.

mom to Sophia 12/8/03 bi cf

How to Contact Dr. Ponseti

Ignacio Ponseti, M.D.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Iowa Hospitals and

Clinics

Telephone: (319)356-3469

Address:

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

200 Hawkins Drive

010255 JPP

Iowa City, IA 52242

Via E-mail: ignacio-ponseti@...