Brachydactyly (Greek βραχύς = "short" plus δάκτυλος = "finger"), is a medical term which literally means "shortness of the fingers and toes" (digits). The shortness is relative to the length of other long bones and other parts of the body. Brachydactyly is an inherited, usually dominant trait. It most often occurs as an isolated dysmelia, but can also occur with other anomalies as part of many congenitalsyndromes.
Brachydactyly can also be a signal that one will be at risk for heart problems as they age.
Nomograms for normal values of finger length as a ratio to other body measurements have been published. In clinical genetics the most commonly used index of digit length is the dimensionless ratio of the length of the 3rd (middle) finger to the hand length. Both are expressed in the same units (centimeters, for example) and are measured in an open hand from the fingertip to the principal creases where the finger joins the palm and where the palm joins the wrist.
Brachydactyly type A2, Brachymesophalangy II or Brachydactyly Mohr-Wriedt type. Type A2 is a very rare form of brachydactyly. The phalanges of the index fingers and second toes are shortened.
Brachydactyly type D. Referred to inaccurately ("clubbing is a clinically descriptive term, referring to the bulbous uniform swelling of the soft tissue of the terminal phalanx of a digit")[2] as "clubbed thumbs".
In the above brachydactyly syndromes, short digits are the most prominent of the anomalies, but in many other syndromes (Down syndrome, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, etc.), brachydactyly is a minor feature compared to the other anomalies or problems comprising the syndrome.
