Clinical history and findings on evaluation of Charcot arthropathy at a tertiary care specialty foot clinic*
| Variable | No. of feet (%)† |
|---|---|
| Treatment setting at initial diagnosis | |
| Community physician‡ | 52 (67) |
| Time between community physician and foot clinic evaluations, wk, mean ± SD | 3 ± 5 |
| Already a patient at foot clinic | 26 (33) |
| Affected foot | |
| Right | 41 (53) |
| Left | 37 (47) |
| Foot trauma in preceding 6 mo | |
| Yes | 17 (22) |
| No | 61 (78) |
| Swollen, erythematous, warm foot | |
| Yes | 75 (96) |
| No | 3 (4) |
| Skin status of affected foot | |
| Ulcer present§ | 23 (29) |
| No ulcer | 55 (71) |
| Palpation of pedal pulse | |
| Normal or increased | 65 (83) |
| Decreased | 13 (17) |
| Foot protective sensation (monofilament testing) | |
| Intact | 11 (14) |
| Absent | 67 (86) |
| Hemoglobin A1c 6 mo before presentation (% glycated), mean ± SD¶ | 9 ± 2 |
| Charcot arthropathy confirmed by radiograph | |
| Yes | 73 (94) |
| No | 5 (6) |
| Eichenholtz stage | |
| 0 (at risk because of acute sprain or fracture) | 5 (6) |
| 1 (development–fragmentation) | 64 (82) |
| 2 (coalescence) | 9 (12) |
| 3 (reconstruction–consolidation) | 0 (0) |
| Modified Brodsky classification** | |
| Type 1 (midfoot) | 63 (83) |
| Type 2 (hindfoot) | 7 (9) |
| Type 4 (multiple) | 1 (1) |
| Type 5 (forefoot) | 5 (7) |
SD = standard deviation.
↵* n = 78 feet in 76 patients. Median time from initial observation of problem until evaluation in foot clinic for all feet, 1 wk.
↵† Unless indicated otherwise.
↵‡ Treatment by community physician: removable walker brace, 9 feet (17%); total contact cast, 5 feet (10%); other orthosis, 2 feet (4%); none, 36 feet (69%).
↵§ Ulcer: not infected, 13 ulcers (57%); infected, 10 ulcers (43%).
↵¶ Hemoglobin A1c available for only 25 feet (25 patients).
↵** Modified Brodsky type unknown in 2 feet (2 patients).
There were 4 patients with unilateral type 3A (tibiotalar) who were excluded and no feet with type 3B (calcaneus).