Severity of ulnar deficiency and its relationship with lower extremity deficiencies

: To assess the characteristics of ulnar deficiency (UD) and their relationship to lower extremity deficiencies, we retrospectively classified 82 limbs with UD in 62 patients, 55% of whom had femoral, fibular, or combined deficiencies. In general, UD severity classification at one level (elbow, ulna, fingers, thumb/first web space) statistically correlated with similar severity at another. Ours is the first study to show that presence of a lower limb deficiency is associated with less severe UD on the basis of elbow, ulnar, and thumb/first web parameters. This is consistent with the embryological timing of proximal upper extremities developing before the lower extremities.