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.