Radiographic hand abnormalities in fifteen cases of Crouzon syndrome

Fifteen patients with Crouzon syndrome were evaluated for abnormalities of hand bone length via metacarpophalangeal pattern profile analysis. Data from this group were compared to that from a normal control sample. A discriminant function, utilizing Z scores based on the lengths of three hand bones, was derived and distinguished between the two samples at a rate of 88.3%. The discriminant variables selected in the function represented hand bones that are prominently involved in ACS type V and ACPS type II, syndromes that feature craniofacial abnormalities not unlike those in Crouzon syndrome. The possibility of a common developmental mechanism affecting the hand skeleton in all three of these different conditions is raised.