Is club foot genetic?
The true etiology of congenital clubfoot is unknown. Most infants who have clubfoot have no identifiable genetic, syndromal, or extrinsic cause. Extrinsic associations include teratogenic agents (eg, sodium aminopterin), oligohydramnios, and congenital constriction rings. Genetic associations include mendelian inheritance (eg, diastrophic dwarfism; autosomal recessive pattern of clubfoot inheritance). Cytogenetic abnormalities (eg, congenital talipes equinovarus [CTEV]) can be seen in syndromes involving chromosomal deletion. It has been proposed that idiopathic CTEV in otherwise healthy infants is the result of a multifactorial system of inheritance.8 Evidence for this is as follows: * Incidence in the general population is 1 per 1000 live births. * Incidence in first-degree relations is approximately 2%. * Incidence in second-degree relations is approximately 0.6%. * If one monozygotic twin has a CTEV, the second twin has only a 32% chance of having a CTEV.
