What is a hexadactyly?

: the condition of having six fingers or toes on a hand or foot.

What is the medical term for extra digits?

Polydactyly is a deformity in which the hand has one or more extra fingers in any of three places of the hand: on the small finger side — most common (ulnar) on the thumb side, also called thumb duplication — less common (radial)

How common is hexadactyly?

In a Mexican retrospective case-control study the prevalence among 26,670 births was 1.73 in 1,000 live newborns. Instead in Chile, the prevalence has been estimated as 1.33 in 1,000 live newborns [5]. We describe a rare case of sporadic familial postaxial hexadactyly of all four limbs (Figure 1).

What is a person with 6 fingers called?

Polydactyly is a condition in which a person is born with extra fingers or toes. The term comes from the Greek words for “many” (“poly”) and “digits” (“dactylos”). There are several types of polydactyly. Most often the extra digit grows next to the fifth finger or toe. Polydactyly tends to run in families.

What does hexadactyly mean in medical terms?

This is called hexadactyly. The word hexadactyly literally means six digits. In medical usage, hexadactyly does not specify whether the six digits are fingers or toes (although in Greek “dactylos” is without equivocation a finger).

What does polydactyly stand for in medical terms?

Polydactyly (hexadactyly): The presence of an extra, sixth finger or toe, a very common congenital malformation (birth defect). This is called hexadactyly. The word hexadactyly literally means six digits.

Can a hexadactyly be treated as an isolated finding?

Hexadactyly in itself can be innocuous, absolutely harmless and very easily remedied, when the hexadactyly is an isolated finding and the baby is otherwise entirely normal. Ulnar hexadactyly with just a rudimentary tag of a sixth digit, for instance, can be very simply treated by tying it off with one suture.

Can a hexadactyly be treated with one suture?

Ulnar hexadactyly with just a rudimentary tag of a sixth digit, for instance, can be very simply treated by tying it off with one suture. However, hexadactyly can also be one of a number of congenital malformations affecting the baby.

What is a hexadactyly? : the condition of having six fingers or toes on a hand or foot. What is the medical term for extra digits? Polydactyly is a deformity in which the hand has one or more extra fingers in any of three places of the hand: on the small finger side — most…