This is a case report of a seven-year-old female who presented with a congenital anomaly of the little finger in which the nailplate was circumferentially covering the tip of the distal phalanx. There was a well-developed eponychial fold on the palmar aspect of the digit. This rare congenital ‘clam nail deformity’ may be the result of an insult to the zone of polarizing activity occurring late in the embryological development.
KalismanM.GoldbergR.ShipAG. Dorsal skin and fingernails on the volar aspect of the hand: an unusual anatomic deformity.Plast Reconstr Surg1982; 69: 694–6.
2.
KeretD.GerE.. Double fingernails on the small fingers.J Hand Surg1987; 12A: 608–10.
3.
KinoshitaY.KojimaT.UchidaM.KurimotoS.. Clam nail deformity of the little finger.Plast Reconstr Surg1993; 91: 158–61.
4.
BeattyE.. Upper limb tissue differentiation in the human embryo.Hand Clinics1985; 1: 391–403.
5.
WolpertL.. Pattern formation in biological development.Sci Am1978; 239: 154–64.