Finger Locking, Recurrent, With Intrauterine Growth Retardation And Proportionate Short Stature

Eng and Strom (1987) reported a mother and daughter who had low-birth-weight dwarfism and intermittent locking of the fingers such that a fist was formed which required traction to be reduced. The mother, who had an adult height of 129.5 cm, also had a ventricular septal defect. The daughter was born by cesarean section because of cephalopelvic disproportion. Birth weight was 2528 g and length was 39.1 cm with a normal head size. The mother was thought to represent a new dominant mutation; her mother was 41 and her father 49 at the time of her birth. The daughter began to have recurrent locking of index and third fingers at age 3. At first these could be reduced by gentle traction. By age 8 or 9 years, the locking was no longer reducible by traction, occurred more often in the winter, and continued for about 2 weeks before spontaneously reducing during sleep.