Much material has accumulated on the anatomic and roentgenologic aspects of the inconstant bones and sesamoids of the foot. The works of Pfitzner, Gruber, Bardeleben, and Dwight are classic. Much less, however, has been said on the ability of these bones to cause functional derangements of the foot.
We have been impressed, both from a study of the literature and from our experience in the foot clinic of the Hospital for Joint Diseases, with the frequency of these bones, and with the uncommonness of functional disturbances associated with these little bones. Many of these ossicles, from their unprotected position, are exposed to trauma. Most may be liable to any disease process that may affect any other bone; also, they may disturb the statics and dynamics of the foot. In our series—an analysis of 1,000 roentgenograms of the foot, with a study of 336 available histories of the 596 patients in