J Korean Soc Surg Hand.  2016 Jun;21(2):93-99. 10.12790/jkssh.2016.21.2.93.

Postaxial Polydactyly of the Hands and Feet in Monozygotic Twins

• Hwang SM
• Park B
• Hwang MK
• Kim HD
• Kim MW
• Lee JS

• KMID: 2328396
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12790/jkssh.2016.21.2.93

Abstract

Polydactyly is the most common congenital difference of the hand and foot presenting as a range of defects from minor soft tissue duplications to major bony abnormalities. Although polydactyly of the hand is reported to occur among approximately 1 in 1,000 live births, the co-occurrence of hand polydactyly on hands and polydactyly on feet is as rare as one out of 100,000 persons. We report a case of hand and foot polydactyly in twins. One of the twins had polydactyly on both hands and feet, the other had polydactyly on the right hand and both feet. Postaxial polydactyly in monozygotic twins appears on both hands and feet in a different form shows that polydactyly is caused by multiple factors. It has been reported that the mother's infection and drug in addition to hereditary factors are the causes for polydactyly, but since they are unknown yet, it is necessary to conduct a study of them.

Keyword

Congenital difference; Monozygotic twins; Polydactyly; Postaxial

MeSH Terms

Foot*
Hand*
Humans
Live Birth
Polydactyly*
Twins
Twins, Monozygotic*

Figure

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  Fig. 1. On the photograph of twin A, both hands contain one extra digit on ulnar side.

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  Fig. 2. On the radiograph of both hands, 5th metacarpal head is wide.

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  Fig. 3. On the photograph of twin A, both feet contain one extra digit on ulnar side.

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  Fig. 4. On the left foot, 5th metatarsal head is wide (A). On the right foot, the 5th metatarsal bifurcate and become ‘Y’ shaped at its distal end (B).

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  Fig. 5. On the photograph of twin B, left hand is normal (A). On the right hand, extra digit is pointing to the ulnar side (B).

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  Fig. 6. Left hand radiograph is non specific (A). On the right hand, 5th metacarpal head is wide (B).

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  Fig. 7. On the photograph of twin B, both foot contain one extra digit on ulnar side.

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  Fig. 8. On the left foot, the 5th metatarsal head is ‘T’ shaped (A). On the right foot, the 5th metatarsal head protrude laterally (B).

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