Clinodactyly and Brachymesophalangia of the Fifth Finger

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Abstract
Summary: 1. Serial radiographs of the hands of 192 mongoloid and 120 normal children extending over four years have been used to investigate the frequency of clinodactyly and brachymesophalangia in the fifth finger and their changes during growth.2. The incidence of clinodactyly in the mongoloid children was similar to that recorded in the literature but the incidence in the normal children was higher than that recorded previously. Clinodactyly with a middle phalanx of the usual length occurred with almost equal frequency in both mongoloid and normal children. There was a marked difference between the two groups of children in the incidence of clinodactyly associated with brachymesophalangia.3. It is suggested that brachymesophalangia is a more important physical sign of mongolism than clinodactyly. Considering children under the age of 8 years, it was present in 25.0% of the mongoloid group and 3.3% of the normal group and was almost always associated with clinodactyly.4. The incidence of clinodactyly did not vary with age but brachymesophalangis was slightly less common among older mongoloids.

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