Autosomal dominant transmission of isolated congenital vertical talus.

Congenital vertical talus (CVT), or "rocker-bottom" foot, describes the most severe form of congenital flatfoot. It is characterized by a rigid dislocation of the talonavicular joint, in which the navicular articulates with the dorsal aspect of the talus.11 The term "congenital convex pes valgus" is also frequently used.4,5,11 To make a definite diagnosis, it is important to demonstrate that the navicular is dislocated dorsally on the neck of the talus when the foot is maintained in extreme plantar flexion.3 The etiology of this entity remains unknown. It is associated with certain central nervous system defects, multiple malformation syndromes, in-utero deformation, and some aneuploidy states.1 Only two groups have reported on the familial occurrence of this condition.9,10 We describe vertical transmission of isolated CVT in four separate families and confirm that autosomal dominant inheritance should be considered in the differential diagnosis of isolated CVT.