FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR PREAXIAL HALLUCAL POLYDACTYLY AS A MARKER OF DIABETIC EMBRYOPATTHY

Maternal diabetes has an established aetiological link with developmen tal abnormalities, and the prevalence of major congenital malformation s in the offspring of affected women is approximately 4-8%, compared t o the general population risk of about 3%. Hallucal polydactyly, parti cularly with an unusual proximal placement of the extra digit, has bee n reported as a distinctive anomaly in diabetic embryopathy. We report on a child of a diabetic mother with this unusual form of hallucal po lydactyly, together with other skeletal anomalies, confirming that thi s malformation is a useful clinical marker for the diagnosis of diabet ic embryopathy.