Congenital Abnormalities of Bone

Congenital abnormalities of the skeleton may be divided into two groups: focal and generalized. Focal disorders are localized and with no systemic abnormality. They are often of little clinical significance, and may be encountered as incidental findings in everyday practice. These include anomalies such as abnormalities of segmentation of the vertebrae, e.g., hemivertebra (Fig. 14.1), congenital fusion of bones, particularly in the carpus (Fig. 14.2), Polydactyly (Table 14.1) (Fig. 14.3), or Madelung ’s deformity (Fig. 14.4).