What are the causes and symptoms of clubfoot?
Experts do not agree on the precise cause of clubfoot. The exact genetic mechanism of inheritance has been extensively investigated using family studies and other epidemiological methods. No definitive conclusions have been reached as of the early 2000s, although a Mendelian pattern of inheritance is suspected. This may be due to the interaction of several different inheritance patterns, different patterns of development appearing as the same condition, or a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors. The MSX1 gene has been associated with clubfoot in animal studies. As of the early 2000s, however, these findings have not been replicated in humans. A family history of clubfoot has been reported in 24.4% of families in a single study. These findings suggest the potential role of one or more genes being responsible for clubfoot. Several environmental causes have been proposed for clubfoot. Obstetricians feel that intrauterine crowding causes clubfoot. This theory is su
