Posted on January 16, 2022
What is Mueller Weiss disease?
The Mueller Weiss syndrome is a uncommon cause of pain in the midfoot in adults which was also known as Brailsford disease. Mueller Weiss Syndrome is a spontaneous onset osteonecrosis of the navicular bone within the foot. There's a a lot more well-known disorder of the navicular bone in children called Köhler disease, and this is an osteonecrosis of the tarsal navicular bone, but they are distinct entities as a result of the nature of the growing bones in children. The disease was initially documented by Schmidt back in 1925. Then it was W Muller whom afterwards suggested how the underlying mechanism in the disease was because of an abnormal compression force in the midfoot area. Around the same period, K Weiss, described which the appearances on radiographs were just like those seen in a condition called Kienbock disease, and this is an osteonecrosis. The two of these publications led to the most frequently used term for this condition, Mueller Weiss syndrome.
Mueller Weiss disease generally occurs in adults between forty and sixty years of age (Köhler disease has a common onset around five years of age). It seems to be more prevalent in women. It could have an impact on just one foot, or it could impact both feet. The typical symptoms are the slow oncoming of pain in the mid-foot and rearfoot that can often be localized to the most agonizing place being around the navicular bone. A flat foot is in addition more common in those with this condition. The easiest way to identify Mueller Weiss disorder is by using imaging. On a x-ray there will look like a failure of areas of the bone and sclerosis with comma-shaped deformity with the outside part. A computerized tomography scan could also show the same issues and could be helpful to evaluate the stage with the condition in far more detail. A magnetic resonance image could be a lot more sensitive to assist with the verification since it is able to detect a change in the bone marrow.
Mueller Weiss disease is generally progressive and may produce acute pain and be really disabling, therefore treatment does need to be began as quickly as possible to prevent the navicular bone from becoming harmed too much. Initial treatment methods are to limit weight bearing, maybe some pain alleviation medications and make use of supporting shoes. Frequently foot supports are widely used to help further stabilise the region and support the arch of the feet. This prevents a lot of stress off the navicular. If that's not necessarily helping, then a additional reduction in weight bearing amounts is necessary which means that there is less stress on the painful bone. A moon boot or walking brace is the next phase to further protect and immobilise the region if your pain are not getting better. If all of these conservative techniques tend not to help, there are also operative possibilities that can help with the soreness however may often result in a little minimal disability, which can be more desirable in comparison to the continual soreness of an active disease. The particular surgical treatment may be a decompression of the navicular bone with drilling. An alternative choice if there are regions of bone tissue deterioration are a operative fusion of the important joints round the bone.