Polydactyly is a condition in which a baby is born with one or more extra fingers. It is a common condition that often runs in families. The extra fingers are usually small and abnormally developed. Polydactyly is one of the most common congenital (present at birth) hand abnormalities.
An estimated one in every 700–1,000 babies is born with polydactyly, which means they have extra fingers on their hands or extra toes on their feet or both. Because polydactyly is so unusual, some people may consider it a malformation or anomaly.
While there have been cultures that have always considered the appearance of an extra toe or finger as a status symbol in their society, their faith has not been just a figment of the imagination. Being born with an extra finger or toe has been known to bring about a lot of luck.
It might be surprising to see an extra finger or toe after your baby is born, but polydactyly is extremely treatable. Your child will have no long-term impacts from having the extra digit removed, and polydactyly doesn't mean they'll have any other developmental complications.
Polydactyly is associated with Down syndrome, trisomy 13, Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome, Apert syndrome, and tibial hemimelia. Two types of polydactyly exist: type A, which exhibits a well-formed articulated digit, or type B, characterized by a rudimentary digit.
It is characterized by an extra finger or toe that may results from defective development during anterior-posterior patterning of developing limb. It may appear in isolation (non-syndromic polydactyly) or associated with other birth defects as a part of a syndrome (syndromic polydactyly).
Are polydactyl cats inbred? Polydactyl cats are not inbred. Instead, they have a genetic mutation that has been passed down by one of their parents. If one cat parent has a mutation, at least one of their kittens likely will.
Polydactyly is a condition in which a baby is born with one or more extra fingers. It is a common condition that often runs in families. The extra fingers are usually small and abnormally developed. Polydactyly is one of the most common congenital (present at birth) hand abnormalities.
Polydactyly may be passed down in families. This trait involves only one gene that can cause several variations. African Americans, more than other ethnic groups, can inherit a 6th finger. In most cases, this is not caused by a genetic disease.
So if there are many dominant versions of genes that make six fingers, why is having six fingers rare? Well, those versions of genes are rare. You don't meet many people with extra fingers or toes. This means when two people meet and have a baby, odds are neither has the “six-finger” copy of a gene.
Polydactyly of a triphalangeal thumb or PPD2 is a form of preaxial polydactyly of fingers (see this term), a limb malformation syndrome, that is characterized by the presence of a usually opposable triphalangeal thumb with or without additional duplication of one or more skeletal components of the thumb.
Facts about toe polydactyly:
In most cases, the "ideal age" to remove an extra toe is around 1 year. At this age, the foot is large enough to make the removal more simple, and the child is not yet aware of the extra digit.
Third nipples have nothing on this. Which actor was born with an extra digit on each of his hands? The answer is Taye Diggs, who joked, “I'm actually an alien,” to the ladies of The Talk when asked if he was born was 12 fingers.
Treatment. Polydactyly is usually treated in early childhood with the removal of the extra finger or toe. If the extra digit is not attached by any bones, a vascular clip may be used to remove it. The vascular clip attaches to the extra digit and cuts off blood flow to it.
Polydactyly (extra fingers and toes) is due to a dominant gene. A father is polydactyl, the mother has the normal phenotype, and they have had one normal child.
Although mating indices were comparable between polydactylous (pd/pd) and phenotypically normal (pd/+ or +/+) females, fertility indices were significantly decreased in pd/pd females.
Polydactyly usually is genetic (runs in families). This condition happens to boys and girls equally. Among ethnic groups there are differences in how often the extra finger is on the small finger or thumb side of the hand. Most children with polydactyly are otherwise healthy.
Postaxial hand polydactyly is most frequent in the United States in Black males. Preaxial polydactyly occurs in 0.08 to 1.4 in 1,000 live births. In the United States, it is more common in White people and also relatively frequent in Native American and Asian people.
In humans, polydactyly (i.e, presence of extra fingers and toes) is determined by a dominant autosomal allele (P) and the normal condition is determined by a recessive allele (p).
Preaxial polydactyly type 3 (MIM 174600) is very rare disorder segregating in an autosomal dominant fashion. In this type, the index finger is usually duplicated. One or two triphalangeal digits replace the thumb.
Any baby can be born with polydactyly. Post-axial polydactyly can run in families. Most babies who have polydactyly do not have other health problems. But sometimes, it happens as part of a genetic syndrome .
Conclusions: Proximally placed preaxial hallucal polydactyly, particularly when coupled with segmentation anomalies of the spine and tibial hemimelia, is highly suggestive of diabetic embryopathy.
Males are more affected than females. Conditions such as pollux abductus are associated with preaxial polydactyly.