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Imaging of the Diabetic Foot

  • Chapter
The Diabetic Foot

Part of the book series: Contemporary Diabetes ((CDI))

Abstract

Foot infections are among the most common causes of hospitalization in the diabetic population, accounting for 20% of all diabetes-related admissions. Complicated foot infections may require treatment by amputation—as many as 6–10% of all patients with diabetes will undergo amputation for treatment of infection (1–3), accounting for 57% of nontraumatic lower extremity amputations (4–6). The scope of the problem is compelling. Infections and complicated vascular diabetic foot problems result in 50,000 amputations a year in the United States (7). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the annual treatment cost of amputees within this group at $1.2 billion for the year 1997. However, this figure does not include the cost of rehabilitation, prosthetic devices, or lost income. These treatment costs are likely to escalate as the prevalence of diabetes is on the rise. A recent epidemiology study shows an increase of the overall prevalence of diabetes from 4.9% in 1990 to 6.5% in 1998 (8).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Musculoskeletal Imaging Section, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston

    Mary G. Hochman MD (Chief)

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

    Mary G. Hochman MD (Chief)

  3. Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH

    Yvonne Cheung MD (Assistant Professor of Radiology and Orthopedic)

  4. St. James’s Hospital, Trinity College, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    David P. Brophy MD, FFRRCSI, FRCR, MSCVIR

  5. Nuclear Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

    J. Anthony Parker MD (Associate Professor of Radiology and Staff Radiologist)

Authors
  1. Mary G. Hochman MD
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  2. Yvonne Cheung MD
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  3. David P. Brophy MD, FFRRCSI, FRCR, MSCVIR
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  4. J. Anthony Parker MD
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

    Aristidis Veves MD, DSc , John M. Giurini DPM  & Frank W. Logerfo MD ,  & 

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© 2006 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Hochman, M.G., Cheung, Y., Brophy, D.P., Parker, J.A. (2006). Imaging of the Diabetic Foot. In: Veves, A., Giurini, J.M., Logerfo, F.W. (eds) The Diabetic Foot. Contemporary Diabetes. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-075-1_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-075-1_12

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-610-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-075-1

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