Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Dysmelia

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Dysmelia

Dysmelia (from Gr. δυσ- dys, "bad" + μέλ|ος mél|os, "limb" + Eng. suff. -ia) is a congenital disorder of a limb resulting from a disturbance in embryonic development.

Contents

Types

Dysmelia can refer to

  • missing (aplasia) limbs: amelia, oligodactyly, congenital amputation
  • malformation of limbs: shortening (rhizomelia or mesomelia), ectrodactyly, phocomelia, meromelia, syndactyly, brachydactyly, club foot
  • too many limbs: polymelia, polydactyly, polysyndactyly

    • Occurrence rate

    Birth defects involving limbs occur in 1 per 1000.

    Causes

    Dysmelia can be caused by

  • inheritance of abnormal genes, e.g. polydactyly, ectrodactyly or brachydactyly, symptoms of deformed limbs then often occur in combination with other symptoms (syndromes)
  • external causes during pregnancy (thus not inherited), e.g. via amniotic band syndrome
  • teratogenic drugs (e.g. thalidomide, which causes phocomelia) or environmental chemicals
  • ionizing radiation (nuclear weapons, radioiodine, radiation therapy)
  • infections
  • metabolic imbalance

    • References

    Dysmelia Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA