title: Rare case of tibial hemimelia, preaxial polydactyly, and club foot.
abstract: A seven-month old female presented with left tibial hemimelia (or congenital tibial aplasia; Weber type VIIb, Jones et al type 1a), seven-toed preaxial polydactyly, and severe club foot (congenital talipes equinovarus). Definitive amputation surgery disarticulated the lower limb at the knee. This case report describes the anatomical findings of a systematic post-amputation examination of the lower limb's superficial dissection, X-rays, and computed tomography (CT) scans. From the X-rays and CT scans, we found curved and overlapping preaxial supernumerary toes, hypoplastic first metatarsal, lack of middle and distal phalanges in one supernumerary toe, three tarsal bones, hypoplastic middle phalanx and no distal phalanx for fourth toe, and no middle or distal phalanges for fifth toe. The fibula articulated with the anteromedial calcaneus and the tibia was completely absent. We identified numerous muscles and nerves in the superficial dissection that are described in the results section of the case report. Due to the rarity of this combination of anatomical findings, descriptions of such cases are very infrequent in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Guinevere Granite, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States.
authors.forename: Guinevere
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Granite
authors.affiliation: Guinevere Granite, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Herzenberg
authors.affiliation: Guinevere Granite, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wade
keywords: Club foot; Congenital talipes equinovarus; Congenital tibial aplasia; Preaxial polydactyly; Tibial hemimelia