Abstract
Very few reports on the phenotype of short fifth metacarpals have been published in the medical literature. We report a Jordanian family in which three sisters aged 15, 13 and 8 years revealed bilateral shortening of the fifth fingers and radiological shortening of the fifth metacarpals. The father had unilateral short fifth metacarpal. The elder two sisters, their father as well as their brother and another sister manifested insulin resistance. Spherocytosis was diagnosed in one of the girls and her father. The parents are non-consanguineous. This constellation of findings has not been previously reported and could point to the presence of two disorders segregating in the family or to a novel syndrome with autosomal dominant inheritance and variable expressivity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Patel V, Alban Davies H. Insulin resistance type A and short 5th metacarpals. Diabetic Med 2003; 20:500–504.
Schoeller T, Wechselberger G, Otto A, Hussl H. Idiopathic isolated bilaterally symmetrical brachymetacarpia of the fifth metacarpal. Case report. Scand J Plast Reconstr Surg Hand Surg 1998; 32:117–119.
Sukur M, Darendeliler F, Bundak R, Bas F, Saka N, Gunoz H. Brachymetacarpia V in familial short stature. Ann Hum Biol 1997; 24:371–375.
Shamov IA. The short little finger symptom in the Minkowski-Chauffard syndrome [ in Russian]. Sov Med 1987; 3:116–117.
Cerravantes C, Lifshitz F, Levenbrown J. Radiologic anthropometry of the hand in patients with familial short stature. Pediatr Radiol 1988; 18:210–214.
Cefalu W. Insulin resistance: cellular and clinical concepts. Exp Biol Med 2001; 226:13–26.
Musso C, Cochran E, Moran SA, Skarulis MC, Oral EA, Taylor S, Gorden P. Clinical course of genetic diseases of the insulin receptor (type A and Rabson-Mendenhall syndromes): a 30-year prospective. Medicine 2004; 83:209–222.
Matthews D, Hosker J, Rudenski A, Naylor B. Treacher D, Turner R. Homeostasis model assessment: insulin resistance and beta-cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man. Diabetologia 1985; 28:412–419.
Abdul-Rahim HF, Husseini A, Bjertness E, Giacaman R, Gordon N, Jervell J. The metabolic syndrome in the West Bank population: an urban-rural comparison. Diabetes Care 2001; 24:275–279.
Al-Lawati JA, Mohammed AJ, Al-Hinai HQ, Jousilahti PJ. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among Omani adults. Diabetes Care 2003; 26:1781–1785.
Jaber LA, Brown MB, Hammad A, Zhu Q, Herman WH. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among Arab Americans. Diabetes Care 2004; 27:234–238.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hyari, M., Hamamy, H., Barham, M. et al. Familial short fifth metacarpals and insulin resistance. Skeletal Radiol 35, 702–705 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-005-0939-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-005-0939-2