Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation: Opus V: Skeletal Systems: Upper Limb
Ronald A. Bergman, PhD
Adel K. Afifi, MD, MS
Ryosuke Miyauchi, MD
Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed
Congenital absence (partial or complete) of the radius with normal hand development or with absence of the thumb has been reported. A sesamoid bone may develop in the bicipital tendon over the radial tuberosity.
The congenital bilateral absence of the radius in identical twins has been recorded.
Congenital absence (partial or complete) of the ulna has also been reported. The ulna may only be represented by an olecranon-like vestige.
A sesamoid bone is occasionally contained within the tendon of the triceps muscle proximal to the olecranon. Another sesamoid (os coronoides) may also be found at the tip of the coronoid process. A separate ulnar styloid process (os ulnostyloideum) has been described.
Duplication of the radius and of the ulna has been reported and are rare.
The ratio between the lengths of the forearm and the arm is expressed by the humeroradial index (length of radius x 100) / length of the humerus. The index is higher in the infant than the adult; higher in women than in men. In Europeans the index is 74; in the Negro, 79; in the Andamanese, 81. Among the anthropoid apes, the gorilla has an index of 90; the orang, 100.
From Wynne-Davies and Lamb, "There remains, however, a basicneed to search for the cause...of some upper limb defects by means of clinical, genetic, and epidemiologic evidence. In some instances the cause is known,...Others clearly occur as only one feature of a malformation syndrome; these in turn frequently have a genetic origin. However, patients presenting with upper limb anomalies that have an unknown cause probably amount to about 85% to 90% of all cases.
References
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Davidson, A.J. and M.T. Horwitz (1939) Congenital club-hand deformity associated with absence of radius: Its surgical correction. J. Bone Joint Surg. 21:462-463.
Dubost, E., Picard, J.M., Ecarlat, B. and C. Hernandez. (1960) Trois formes d'anomalies congénitales des membres. J. Radiol. Electrol. 41:579-583.
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Senftleben, H. (1869) Notiz über eine angeborene Luxation des Radius mit Defect des mittleren Theils der Ulna. Arch. Pathol. Anat. Physiol. Klin. Med. 45:303-304.
Southwood, A.R. (1927) Partial absence of the ulna and associated structures. J. Anat. 61:346-351.
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Wynne-Davies, R. and D.W. Lamb. (1985) Congenital upper limb anomalies: An etiologic grouping of clinical, genetic, and epidemiologic data from 387 patients with "absence" defects, constriction bands, polydactylies, and syndactylies. The journal of Hand Surgery (Am) 10(6):958-964.
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