Alterations in Talar Morphology Associated with Adult Flatfoot

Abstract

To gain a better understanding of the anatomy of the factors contributing to symptomatic flatfoot, we compared the shape of the talus in feet that were flat to that in control tali from feet with a normal arch. Computed tomographic (CT) scans were performed on 9 adult patients with 10 symptomatic flatfoot deformities. CT scans of 10 feet being evaluated for acute trauma not involving the talus were randomly selected as controls. Flatfoot tali tended to be of greater overall length than the control tali, and this difference was not statistically significant. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing ratios of talar length with talar width (P = 0.011), talar length with talar height (P = 0.001) (they were long relative to their height and width), and head length with head width (P = 0.001) for individual tali from the two groups. The tali from the flatfoot group were narrower in width and shorter in height when compared with overall length and had heads that were more elongated in the transverse plane than tali in feet with a normal appearance. Clinical correlation: When performing surgical correction of a flatfoot in an adult, appearance of the foot rather than standard radiographic parameters should be used to judge the reduction. The altered shape of the bone may alter the standard radiographic parameters.