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The term polydactyly comes from the Greek words “polys” – “many” and “dactylos” – “finger”, meaning it literally means multi-toed. This is a physical defect in which an extra finger or fingers are present in the limbs. It can apply to humans and animals, such as cats.
What are the causes of polydactyly?
Multi-toedness is a birth defect, but there may be several different types of abnormalities at its root. This genetic defect may arise from:
- Patau’s syndrome, or trisomy of chromosome 13. It consists in having an additional, third chromosome in the 13th pair of chromosomes due to abnormal chromosome divergence during meiotic division of the cell, which results in the formation of a gamete in one of the parents. The disease can be characterized by a wide variety of birth defects and malformations. Children with this syndrome usually die very early;
- genetic disorders at the level of a single gene. This mutant gene is inherited dominantly and passed down from generation to generation;
- Greig’s team. It is a severe congenital disease where there is preaxial polydactyly (see below) along with syndactyly of the remaining fingers. The five toes on both the hand and the foot are fused, and there is an additional toe independently of them. It is caused by a mutation in a single gene;
- Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS). Apart from polydactyly, it includes a number of birth defects, incl. characteristic for him cone-rod dystrophy, obesity, hypogonadism, kidney defects, intellectual disability. However, patients live to adulthood. It arises as a result of 3 mutations within 2 genes;
- closer to unexplored developmental disorders.
A gene mutation or developmental disorders may occur as a result of harmful factors in pregnancy. It may be the use of stimulants such as cigarettes and alcohol by a pregnant woman. It may also be a result of the harmful effects of certain drugs, a complication after infections, especially viral ones, or a mutation resulting from the exposure of the fetus to harmful radiation. There can be many reasons, including toxic substances that pollute the environment and food.
Interestingly, this disorder is more common in black people.
Sometimes polydactyly can also be accompanied by syndactyly – the extra finger is fused with another finger. Polydactyly can be diagnosed in utero on the basis of ultrasound or prenatal examinations.
What are the types of polydactyly?
Polydactyly can take many forms and affects both hands and feet. The most common of them are:
- polydactyly without bone elements – only the skin-muscle fold is produced;
- polydactyly with bone or articular elements that do not make up the entire finger. It consists in the appearance of additional finger buds with individual phalanges or joints;
- preaxial polydactyly. We are talking about it when an extra toe appears in the vicinity of the thumb or big toe (big toe);
- oblique polydactyly. It consists in the fact that, in addition, the sixth finger appears after the fifth (little) finger of the hand or foot.
Treatment of polydactyly
The only possible treatment is to surgically remove the excess toe. It is especially recommended when the extra finger hinders normal functioning. Depending on the type of polydactyly, surgery may be introduced at different ages. If it is polydactyly without bone and joint elements, the procedure can be performed already in infancy. In the case of multiple fingers with bone and joint structures present, wait for your baby to grow a little, usually until the age of two or, in some cases, until the age of five. The decision should be made by the doctor depending on the individual case.
In most cases, surgery is a necessity. Failure to remove the extra finger may lead to various complications, such as pathological muscle and tendon contractures. The psychological aspect should also be taken into account. A child with an extra finger will at first glance differ from his friends and may be excluded by his peers from his playgroup due to his dissimilarity.
An interesting fact is that many famous personalities suffered from polydactyly. This anomaly affected Polish rulers – Prince Henry II the Pious and King Władysław III of Varna. Among the contemporaries, it affected actors such as Hrithik Roshan (Bollywood actor) and Gemma Arterton (British actress known, among others, from “007 Quantum of Solace”, for whom polydactyly was operated in childhood). Football player Raúl González Blanco, longtime Real Madrid captain, also walked with an extra finger. As you can see, polydactyly did not prevent them from making a global career.
Interestingly, people with polydactyly among primitive cultures, such as wild and semi-wild tribes, were treated as the chosen ones. The extra finger was considered a gift from god. Such persons were treated in a special way as a kind of living demigods.
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