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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Dissection of 6.5 dpc Mouse Embryos
Published on: February 25, 2007
Further evidence for preaxial hallucal polydactyly as a marker of diabetic embryopathy
1Genetic Services of Western Australia, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Western Australia.
Maternal diabetes has an established aetiological link with developmental abnormalities, and the prevalence of major congenital malformations in the offspring of affected women is approximately 4-8%, compared to the general population risk of about 3%. Hallucal polydactyly, particularly with an unusual proximal placement of the extra digit, has been reported as a distinctive anomaly in diabetic embryopathy. We report on a child of a diabetic mother with this unusual form of hallucal polydactyly, together with other skeletal anomalies, confirming that this malformation is a useful clinical marker for the diagnosis of diabetic embryopathy.
Maternal diabetes has an established aetiological link with developmental abnormalities, and the prevalence of major congenital malformations in the offspring of affected women is approximately 4-8%, compared to the general population risk of about 3%. Hallucal polydactyly, particularly with an unusual proximal placement of the extra digit, has been reported as a distinctive anomaly in diabetic embryopathy. We report on a child of a diabetic mother with this unusual form of hallucal polydactyly, together with other skeletal anomalies, confirming that this malformation is a useful clinical marker for the diagnosis of diabetic embryopathy.
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