Forty-two cases of simple shortening of the second, third, and fourth metatarsal bones were studied.
The deformity is a sequel of poliomyelitis in most cases and its presence is strong evidence that the patient has had that disease unless congenital club-foot is present.
The deformity tends to occur in those cases in which there has been extensive paralysis of a leg early in life (before age four) with involvement of the anterior tibial muscle, but the deformity does not appear until early adolescence, when the epiphysis unites prematurely.
In no case in this series did the deformity appear to be a congenital malformation.