• Question: why do people get symbrachydactyly

    Asked by anon-354700 on 8 Mar 2023.
    • Photo: Kirstie Andrews

      Kirstie Andrews answered on 8 Mar 2023:

      This is congenital- it is present from birth- and happens as the baby is developing in the mother’s womb. Scientists and medics don’t know the exact cause and why this happens in some babies and not others. The body is a very complex mechanism and we often don’t understand, yet, why some things like this happen, but researchers are looking into it to try to find out why and how we can treat it in the future.

    • Photo: Silvia Mazzotta

      Silvia Mazzotta answered on 8 Mar 2023:

      At the moment, there isn’t a definite answer to this question. Symbrachydactyly is a congenital disease, meaning that something goes wrong when the baby is developing inside the mother’s belly, and the baby is born with a defect (in this case a defect in the fingers, that are often too short or missing entirely). We are fairly sure that this is not a genetic conditions, which means that if a mum or a dad were born with it, it is not more likely for their children to be born with this defect as well. I think most scientists will tell you that the most likely cause for Symbrachydactyly is a defect in the development of the blood vessels that go into into arm and hands; this unfortunately can result in defective development of your fingers.

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