Hattori Koshi, Sano Hirotaka, Saijo Yoshifumi, Kita Atsushi, Hatori Masahito, Kokubun Shoichi, Itoi Eiji
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
J Pediatr Orthop B. 2007 Sep;16(5):357-62. doi: 10.1097/BPB.0b013e328248b4d0.
To compare the soft-tissue elasticity between the medial, lateral, and posterior aspects, the deltoid and calcaneofibular ligaments, and the medial, lateral, and posterior capsular tissues were collected from 27 feet of 16 congenital-clubfoot patients. The tissue sound speed, which closely correlates to the Young's modulus, was measured using a scanning acoustic microscope. Contrary to our expectations, lateral ligament showed a significantly higher sound speed than medial ligament (P=0.0023). Lateral capsule also showed a higher sound speed than the medial one (P=0.0338). The results of the study indicated that the lateral soft tissues including the ligaments and capsule underwent severe contracture in congenital clubfoot.
