Active clinical trials for "Arthropathy, Neurogenic"

The project concerns a type of very debilitating diabetic foot complications called Charcots osteoarthropathy (COA). This disease is characterized by a rapidly progressing destruction of the load bearing joints, primarily in the feet, resulting in loss of structure and remodeling. Untreated this cascade leads to the collapse of the bones, meaning severe pain and walking disability for the patient. Reconstruction is often very difficult or impossible, and furthermore the collapse can lead to chronic foot ulcers and infections, which in the worst case can be fatal. Treatment options are currently limited to early diagnosis and physical offloading (immobilisation), assisted wound healing and surgical intervention. The purpose of this project is to investigate and describe the bone-related factors, which separate COA from other, less acute, diabetic foot changes. The investigators wish to describe the long term consequences of COA - both anatomically, physiologically and biochemically. The investigators will be doing this in a follow-up investigations on a group of COA patients tested 8 years ago. Little is known of the long term changes to the bone structure after acute COA, and the investigators want to visualize to what extend the bone damage is permanent. To do this the investigators will be using DXA-scans, x-ray, blood tests including bone markers, neurophysiological tests and occlusion plethysmography.

The study is designed to investigate biomarkers related to bone turnover in diabetics with charcot foot. This is done by measuring local blood samples in the feet, and systemically in a vene and an artery. Measurements are done before and after cooling the feet in icewater to lower the bloodflow. Patients will be compared with healthy diabetic controls.

The surgical techniques described in the literature for surgical management of diabetic charcot arthropathy of the foot and ankle include simple exostectomy, open reduction and internal fixation of neuropathic fractures, external fixation, arthrodesis, Achilles tendon lengthening. Patients are followed up at 1 year postoperative by an x-ray of the foot and ankle anteroposterior , lateral and oblique views to assess rate of union ,the correction of deformity by measuring the foot angles . The functional outcome is assessed by the AOFAS scoring system and the diabetic foot ulcer scaoeuulcer scale(18).

The condition Charcot foot has been known in more than 130 years, and yet there still remains a large effort to find the cause, diagnostic and medical treatment of the condition. Charcot neuroarthropathy is a progressive disease of bone and joints characterized by often-painless bone and joint destruction in limbs that have lost sensory innervation. The incidence of acute Charcot among diabetic patients is 0,2 % the prevalence is 7,5 %. In the group of patients with neuropathy the prevalence is even higher -29%. The diagnosis is often made on a clinical basis, particularly in the early stages of the condition. The aim of this study is to find a method that makes the diagnosis primarily on the basis of paraclinical information. Clinical presentation: The typical patients have had diabetes in 10 years and have distal symmetrical neuropathy. The common lesion is unilateral with an acute phase, which may occur either spontaneously or be triggered by a minor trauma. The foot becomes swollen, warm, red and oedematous. Some patients have pain, and the condition could be misdiagnosed as cellulites, acute gout, deep vein thrombosis and osteomyelitis. If the patient has a foot ulcer it is important to rule out osteomyelitis and cellulites. In the initial phase it is difficult to make the right diagnose because Charcot is a rare condition. This leads to a delay in the treatment of the Charcot foot, which, for the moment, is reduction of weight bearing. The patient is equipped with an air cast, and the non weight-bearing regime is in some cases maintained in 12 months. The chronic Charcot is characterized by established deformity. The deformity can be in different sites in the foot, the most common is in the mid foot. Because of the deformity there is abnormal weight pressure on the weight bearing sites on the foot. This is associated with callus formation and there is a higher risk for ulceration.