ConnectionMerging of two fingers when all fingers are affected is called a spoon hand. Syndactyly occurs frequently with the Apert – Syndrome.
- Splitting hand
- Spoon Hand
Definition
A syndactyly of the hand is a bony or connective tissue connection of two fingers. In this disease the space between the fingers is missing. This disease is congenital.
Epidemiology
Syndactyly of the hand is a relatively common disease. It is the most common congenital malformation of the hand. Syndactyly is diagnosed in one in 10005000 newborns.
A developmental disorder in the 5th-7th week of embryonic development is discussed. In most cases, no cause of the disease can be identified, more rarely genetic hereditary diseases are present (about 20% of all cases). Genetic diseases in which syndactyly occurs are Aarskog syndrome, Adams-Oliver syndrome, Fraser syndrome, Pfeiffer syndrome (acrocephalo-syndromes) and Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome.
- Aarskog Syndrome
- Adams Oliver Syndrome
- Fraser syndrome
- Pfeiffer Syndrome (Acrocephalo-Syndactyl Syndrome) and
- Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome-
Forms
Basically, a distinction is made between soft tissue syndactyly the fingers are connected to each other exclusively by skin and connective tissue. In bony syndactyly, the finger bones are also connected to each other. Furthermore, one distinguishes the extent of the connection of the fingers with each other.
Here three degrees of severity are distinguished: In most cases only two fingers are connected with each other (simple syndactyly). If several fingers of a hand are affected, one speaks of multiple syndactyly. If all fingers of a hand are affected, a so-called spoon hand is formed.
The presence of such a malformation is suspected to be a genetic disease (Apert syndrome).
- The soft tissue syndactyly
- Bony syndactyly
- Partial (partial)
- Almost completely (subtotal)
- Complete (total)
The red row of numbers shows the rays of the hand. The beam 4 has merged with the beam 5, therefore the number 5 is missing. The fingers (blue row of numbers) are arranged normally from 1 – 5.
