One hundred consecutive cases of exostosis of the os calcis at the Mayo Clinic were reviewed with the purpose of ascertaining how frequently the gonococcus is a factor in the etiology of the disease.
It is generally believed that exostosis of the os calcis is of gonorrheal origin. This idea may have orginated from a report by Baer,1 in 1905, in which he recorded five cases of painful heels due to exostosis of the os calcis, and all of the patients gave a definite history of having had gonorrhea. In two of the cases in which the spine was also affected, gonococci were found in the growths removed from the heels. In another case three cultures were made at the time of operation, and, although the cultures were negative, they showed diplococci that were decolorized by Gram's stain.
Waechter and Sonnenschein,2 Murphy3 and Epstein4 recognized gonorrhea