What is Mueller Weiss syndrome?
The Mueller Weiss syndrome is a infrequent reason for pain in the midfoot in adults that has been also known as Brailsford disease. Mueller Weiss Syndrome is a sudden onset osteonecrosis of the navicular within the foot. You will find there's a a lot more well-known condition of the navicular in children called Köhler disease, which is also an osteonecrosis with the tarsal navicular bone, however they are completely different disorders as a result of the character with the growing bone tissues in youngsters. The disease was first described by Schmidt in1925. Then it was W Muller that later on proposed that the underlying mechanism in the disease was as a result of an excessive compression force on the mid-foot area. Around the same time, K Weiss, reported how the appearances on radiographs were much like those observed in a disease known as Kienbock disease, and this is an osteonecrosis. Both of these accounts resulted in the most frequently used name for this problem, Mueller Weiss syndrome.
Mueller Weiss syndrome usually occurs in adults between forty and sixty years of age (Köhler disease has a common onset around 5 years of age). It is more common in females. It might have an impact on only one foot, or it could have an impact on both your feet. The common symptoms are the progressive onset of pain in the midfoot and hindfoot that can often be localised to the most agonizing spot being over the navicular bone. A flatter foot is in addition more common in those that have this issue. The easiest way to diagnose Mueller Weiss disease is via using imaging. On a x-ray there will probably appear to be a failure of portions of the bone and sclerosis with comma-shaped deformity in the outside aspect. A computerized tomography scan can also demonstrate the same issues and can be helpful to look at the stage of the problem in more detail. A MRI can be a lot more sensitive to aid in the verification as it is able to find a change in the bone tissues.
Mueller Weiss disease is usually progressive and can result in serious pain and be very disabling, therefore treatment ought to be commenced as early as possible to prevent the bone from becoming weakened too much. Primary treatment is to reduce weight bearing, maybe some pain relief drugs and use supporting shoes. Quite often foot supports are widely used to help further stabilise the bones and support the arch of the feet. This will keep a lot of stress off the navicular. If that is not making a difference, after that even more limitation in weight bearing levels is required so there is significantly less stress on the painful spot. A moon boot or walking splint will be the next phase to further protect and immobilise the region if the pain aren't getting better. If all of these conservative strategies do not help, you can also find operative options that will help with the pain however may frequently leave a little small disability, which is a lot better when compared to the continual soreness of an active disease. The actual surgical treatment could be a decompression of the navicular bone using drilling. An alternative choice should there be areas of bone deterioration are a operative fusion of the important joints around the navicular bone.