 |
NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Monday, May 20, 2013
|
|
|
NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Monday, May 20, 2013
|
| Home | HealthTopics | Health Centers | Reference Library | Research |
 Join us on Facebook
|
Share on Facebook | Tweet |
|
Inherited Disorders and Birth Defects |
Preaxial polydactyly01/30/2008 |
My husband has three boys. Two were born with this disorder and the other was not. Is this possible?
Polydactyly means extra fingers and/or extra toes. The extra finger or toe can be just partially formed or fully formed. It can be on either the thumb side (preaxial Polydactyly) which seems to be the case for your husband's children or the pinky side (postaxial polydactyly).
Having an extra finger or toe can run in families as an autosomal dominant condition - meaning there is a single gene responsible for the trait. If the polydactyly is caused by a single dominant gene, then anyone who has the gene has a 50-50 chance of passing the gene on to each of his or her children. In your husband's case, if he has the gene, he passed it on to two of his sons, but not the other. Sometimes people who carry a dominant gene do not always show it - if your husband does not have preaxial polydactyly, it could be that he has the gene, but it was not expressed, or the gene came from the other side of the family.
Also, if there are other birth defects along with the polydactyly, this may be part of a genetic syndrome. The inheritance would depend on what the syndrome is.
|
Anne Matthews, RN, PhD Associate Professor of Genetics School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University |
|
|
Please note: only your personal physician or other health professional you consult can best advise you on matters of your health based on your medical history, your family medical history, your medication history, and how information from any of these databases may apply to you. Neither University of Cincinnati (NetWellness) nor any party involved in creating, producing or delivering this web site shall be liable for any damages arising out of access to or use of this web site, or any errors or omissions in the content thereof. (More) 
|