ANTONI CASERTA

Presentation Title:

Idiopathic Toe Walking: Putting the pieces of the puzzle together

Presentation Overview:

Idiopathic toe walking is an exclusionary diagnosis given to children that walk on their toes where no known medical cause can be given. It has been a sometimes frustrating condition to treat due to a lack of understanding of the etiology, what makes these children different from typically developing children, and what management strategies actually work. This presentation will be a summary of my Ph.D. that will unpack the evidence for treatment, relook at where there may be gaps in our knowledge, and then a deeper dive into these gaps. This includes these children's strength profile, physical activity, and health-related quality of life. We will also explore how physiotherapists have used motor control and motor learning in their management of idiopathic toe walking.

Bio:

Antoni Caserta works as a private podiatrist and within a multidisciplinary paediatric team in the public health system where he co-consults with a paediatric physiotherapist. Antoni’s private practice and public work focuses on injured young athletes, infant foot conditions, simple and complex gait disorders, chronic pain or disability. Antoni has been Chair of the Paediatric Special Interest Group for the APodA VIC, and has presented numerous times at APodA state conferences, special interest groups and international conferences. He was the 2014 winner of the Jennifer O’Meara Memorial Award for outstanding achievement for a young podiatrist.

Currently a PhD candidate at Monash University, Antoni is undertaking research to better understand the lower limb profile of children with an idiopathic toe-walking gait. He has published a number of articles on idiopathic toe walking gait and the use of iPhone technology in the clinical setting and is currently working on projects relating to podiatry outcome measures and a diagnosis tool for calcaneal and tibial tuberosity apophysitis (Severs disease and Osgood-Schlatter disease).

P: 03 9416 3111
E: info@podiatry.org.au

The APodA would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work and gather across this Country.
We would like to pay our respects to their Elders past and present, as well as emerging youth as the next generation of community leaders.