Every summer, members of Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine (CPM) faculty, staff and student bodies pack up and head to the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) Annual Scientific Meeting.
Dubbed the National, the meeting is hosted in a different U.S. city each year, with this year’s location being Salt Lake City, UT. While CPM’s alumni booth graces The National exhibit hall in every city, attendees at this year’s conference may have noticed CPM garnering a bit more attention than usual thanks to its outstanding faculty and alumni.
CPM faculty member Dr. Jill Kawalec, director of Research, professor and head of the Division of Pre-Clinical Sciences; Dr. Lawrence Osher, professor of Radiology in the Division of Podiatric and General Medicine; and Dr. Duane Ehredt, Jr., associate professor in the Division of Foot & Ankle Surgery and Biomechanics, took home third place in the research poster competition for their work titled, “Inaccuracy of Forefoot Axial Radiographs in Determining the Coronal Plane Angle of Sesamoid Rotation in Adult Hallux Abducto Valgus Deformity: A Study using Weight-Bearing CT Scanning.” A collaborative effort among the CPM community, former students Kelsi Nutter, class of 2019, Joseph Fleck, class of 2018, and Kiarash Bakhaj, class of 2016, authored the poster project along with the faculty cohort.
The study questioned the use of the standard pre-operative forefoot axial (FFA) view, used by orthopedic and podiatric surgeons to evaluate the hallux valgus deformity that does not put the foot in a weight-bearing position. The research compared the sesamoid rotation angles measured from this x-ray view against CT scan views of the foot in two different weight-bearing positions. The results clearly demonstrated significant differences in the angles between the two, extreme weight-bearing positions, calling into question the pre-operative accuracy and usefulness of “industry standard” FFA studies, thus potentially impacting surgical practice worldwide.
Kent State University congratulates the CPM faculty and former students for their award-winning collaborative efforts in representing the college on a national stage.