Lokman KARAKURT1, Erhan YILMAZ1, Ömer AYHAN1, Hayrettin YEKELER2, Seyfettin YAHŞİ2, Erhan SERİN1

1Fırat Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Ortopedi ve Travmatoloji Anabilim Dalı, Elazığ
2Fırat Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Patoloji Anabilim Dalı, Elazığ

Keywords: Clubfoot, Capsule, Cytocontractile proteins, Immunohistochemistry.

Abstract

Introduction: To clarify the cytocontractile proteins of the medial, posterior and lateral capsular tissues of clubfoot, biopsy specimens were collected from 15 idiopathic clubfeet and studied with immunohistochemical method. Material and
Method: There were 7 boys and 3 girls with a mean age of 7.6 months (3 to 40). Five patients had bilateral and 5 had unilateral surgery, so the samples were received from 15 feet. No previous operations had been performed and all were diagnosed as idiopatic clubfoot. During the surgical procedure of complete subtalar release, samples from capsular tissues were collected from medial (talonavicular capsule), posterior (subtalar capsule) and lateral (calcaneocuboid capsule) sides. Monoclonal antibodies against cytocontractile proteins of vimentin, desmin and ?-smooth muscle actin were used for immunohistochemical staining and each sample was assessed as either positive or negative.
Results: All specimens stained positively for vimentin and negatively for desmin. Eight specimens from medial, 3 from posterior and 3 from lateral side were stained positively for ?-smooth muscle actin (p<0.05).
Discussion: Cells from medial capsule of clubfoot have more cytocontractile activity than cells from posterior and lateral capsules. But cells from all sides may play a role in clubfoot etiology and recurrences after the treatment.