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7 - The Ponseti Method

Effective Treatment for Clubfoot Only 2,400 Years in the Making

from Part II - Medicine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

Edward A. Wasserman
Edward A. Wasserman
Affiliation:
University of Iowa
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Summary

If you were born after 1953, then Virginia Apgar may have been responsible for devising your first test – given within 5 minutes of delivery. If you passed, then you might not take much note of Apgar’s historic contribution to medicine. However, if you failed, then you might want to credit her with what may have been the lifesaving care you received – precisely because you scored poorly. It is estimated that millions of at-risk infants have been saved from needless death because of the early warning signs detected with the Apgar Score. How Apgar came to devise, test, and publicize her test is an inspiring story in which persistence in the face of disappointment and discrimination can yield great success. Apgar’s story also underscores the importance of flexibility – changing your aspirations as conditions change. Such flexibility is inherent in how all organisms learn to cope with the changing challenges of survival.

Keywords

Virginia ApgarApgar Scorebackronymnewbornstillbornmaternal anesthesiabirth defectneonatologyMarch of Dimes
Type
Chapter
Information
As If By Design
How Creative Behaviors Really Evolve
 , pp. 77 - 87
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

References

Bergerault, F., Fournier, J., and Bonnard, C. (2013). Idiopathic Congenital Clubfoot: Initial Treatment. Orthopaedics & Traumatology: Surgery & Research, 995, S150–S159.Google Scholar
Brachet, Y. (Photographer). (2005). Bilateral Clubfoot in an Infant with Both Feet Rotated Inward [Photograph]. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pied_bot,_varus_%C3%A9quin_(bilateral).jpgGoogle Scholar
Dobbs, M. B., Morcuende, J. A., Gurnett, C. A., and Ponseti, I. V. (2000). Treatment of Idiopathic Clubfoot: An Historical Review. Iowa Orthopaedic Journal, 20, 59–64.Google Scholar
Dolmanrg (Photographer). (2008). The Denis Browne Bar for Maintaining Clubfoot Adjustments after Cast Removal [Photograph]. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Botas.JPGGoogle Scholar
Luttikhuizen, F. (2011). Professor Ignaci Ponseti i Vives (1914–2009). Contributions to Science, 7, 205–214.Google Scholar
Morcuende, J. A., Egbert, M., and Ponseti, I. V. (2003). The Effect of the Internet in the Treatment of Congenital Idiopathic Clubfoot. Iowa Orthopaedic Journal, 23, 83–86.Google ScholarPubMed
Percas-Ponseti, H. (2007). Homage to Iowa: The Inside Story of Ignacio Ponseti. Iowa City, IA: The University of Iowa Printing Department.Google Scholar
Ponseti, I. V. (1996). Congenital Clubfoot: Fundamentals of Treatment. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sanzarello, I., Nanni, M., and Faldini, C. (2017). The Clubfoot over the Centuries. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics B, 26, 143–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilcox, C. (2003, February). A Healing Touch. Iowa Alumni Magazine.Google Scholar
Yapijakis, C. (2009). Hippocrates of Kos, the Father of Clinical Medicine, and Asclepiades of Bithynia, the Father of Molecular Medicine. In Vivo, 23, 507–514.Google ScholarPubMed

Further Material

Several of Ponseti’s quotations are from www.latimes.com/nation/la-me-ignacio-ponseti27-2009oct27-story.htmlGoogle Scholar
Ponseti training https://vimeo.com/9546017Google Scholar
Ponseti orthopedic devices https://mdorthopaedics.easyordershop.com/easyorder/indexGoogle Scholar
Unique biographical material about Ponseti www.galeriametges.cat/galeria-fitxa.php?icod=LMJ#googtrans(ca|en)Google Scholar
Nice feature on Ponseti https://magazine.foriowa.org/story.php?ed=true&storyid=1831Google Scholar

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