Triphalangeal thumb in a Bantu family.

its comparative rarity may be indicated by the fact that in a review of the literature for the ensuing fifty-two years (Stieve 1916) only thirty-nine cases were collected. Lapidus, Guidotti and Coletti (1943) discovered six cases while examining 75,000 men drafted to an American Army centre. These workers quoted a statement by Dr M. Pomeranz. radiologist of the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York, that during the past twenty-five years there had not been seen a single case of triphalangeal thumb in his department. During the past decade sporadic reports have appeared in both English and Continental journals. The occurrence of triphalangeal thumb in the Negro has been reported by Frere (1930). In South Africa the only previous report of its occurrence in the Bantu was made by McGregor (1926). CASE REPORTS Case 1-A Bantu boy (Shangaan), a first-born child aged eight years, was admitted to the Coronation Hospital in February 1958 under Mr B. Lewin, with a supracondylar fracture of