Does Greek Foot Predispose to Morton’s Neuroma?

Abstract

Background: Morton's neuroma is the enlargement of an interdigital nerve most commonly located between the third and fourth metatarsals. Greek foot is a normal variant where the first metatarsal is shorter than the second metatarsal. To our knowledge, there is currently no reported association between Greek foot and Morton's neuroma in the literature. Methods: Retrospective study of 184 patients. Two separate cohorts were recruited. Cohort A comprised of 100 randomly selected asymptomatic patients. Cohort B comprised of 84 patients with a history of foot pain and histologically confirmed Morton's neuroma. Foot shape was determined by using a selfassessment tool and plain radiographs. Statistical analyses were performed using the Chi-square test on the association between Greek foot and Morton's neuroma. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Our study shows a statistically significant association between Greek foot and Morton's neuroma with a prevalence of Greek foot in Cohort A of 20% and in Cohort B of 63%. (p = 2.6 × 10 −9 ). Conclusions: This study has shown a possible association between the presence of a Greek foot and the presence of Morton's neuroma. Although our study design has limitations and does not allow full statistical analysis, we do believe that the shown association between Greek foot and Morton's neuroma can help clinicians and other health care providers in establishing the diagnosis of Morton's neuroma in patients with a painful foot.

Difference in Shape and Dimensions between Adult and Children Feet Based on 40.000 3D Scans

“…Not much research has been done in the evaluation of forefoot and the shape of toes. Some researchers have shown large correlation between shape of toes and foot problems [15]. A study of 1221 male subjects was conducted to determine normative data with respect to forefoot shape and dimension [16].…”

“…Foot morphology in the course of a working day has also been evaluated in [13]. Sexual dimorphism of feet were evaluated in [14] and similarly for the purpose of shoe design in [15]. The analysis of toe shape from the perspective of shoe fit must necessary consider also the shape of the shoe (especially the toebox).…”