Volume 8 Issue 3 - Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine

Abnormal fetal feet – the differential diagnosesFigure 3 3D Ultrasound at 28 weeks gestationFigure 4 Postnatal photgraph of the right foot. Syndactyly betweenthe 2nd and 3rd toes can be clearly seenFigure 5 2D Ultrasound at 21 weeks gestationFigure 6 2D Ultrasound at 28 weeks gestationFigure 7 3D Ultrasound at 28 weeks gestationSome of these may be present simultaneously.Absence deformities: EctrodactylyEctrodactyly is a heterogenous group of hand/foot malformations,which range from partial or total absence of afinger or toe to the cleft hand or foot deformities 3 .SyndactylySyndactyly refers to the cutaneous and/or osseous fusion oftwo or more digits. It may also present as a manifestation ofa multiple malformation syndrome or chromosomal abnormalit3 . Simple cutaneous syndactyly involving the toes isFigure 8 Postnatal photograph of the left footsonographically difficult to detect, particularly at the timeof the 18–20 week anatomy scan. Unlike the fingers, thetoes cannot generally be seen to separate during an extendedreal time examination. The syndactyly of the hands and feetwere not detected prenatally in this fetus (Figure 10).PolydactylyPolydactyly is the partial or complete presence of an extra digit.It may arise from the hand or foot, or another digit. Polydactylymay present as an isolated anomaly with an autosomal dominantmode of inheritance or as a manifestation of a multiplemalformation syndrome or chromosomal abnormality. 316 ASUM Ultrasound Bulletin 2005 August; 8 (3)