SECTION IV, 1916 [29] TRANSARS IC. 
Chondrodystrophia Fetalis: A Study in Development 
By ALBERT G. NIcHOLLs, M.A., M.D., D.Sc. 
Professor of Pathology in Dalhousie University. 
(Read May Meeting, 1916.) 
The curious and very rare anomaly of development that I wish to 
discuss in the present communication has been variously designated 
foetal rickets, pseudorachitism, cretinoid dysplasia, chondritis fætalis, 
micromelia chondromalacica, achondroplasia, and chondrodystrophia 
foetalis. The multiplicity of names that have been applied to the 
condition is an indication of the very diverse opinions that have been 
entertained as to its etiology. My preference is for the last, for rea- 
sons that may be inferred from the course of my remarks. 
The affection is a form of dwarfism, which presents the following 
characteristic and differentiating features. The type of dwarfism 
is micromelic and the lesions are usually symmetrical. The body is 
plump, the head large, and the micromelia rhizomelic. There are, 
moreover, notable deviations from the normal in the length, curvature, 
and consistence of the bones of the extremities, and in the configura- 
tion of the skull. Not infrequently, the hands show the so-called 
“trident” deformity, the second, third, and fourth fingers being 
nearly of the same length, the second and third being approximated, 
and also the third and fourth. According to Kaufmann, who has made 
a careful study of the condition, there are two groups—one, in which 
there is a distinctly cretinoid appearance of the face and. skull, viz., 
a deeply sunken nose, thick cheeks and lips, and a large mouth; 
another, in which the nose is flattened and retracted as a whole. 
Apart from these, which may be termed the “‘hall-marks’’ of the disease, 
there are others which are occasionally present, such as, osteoporosis, 
beading of the costochondral junctions of the ribs, cleft palate, lordosis, 
and polydactyly. Before passing on to the consideration of the fac- 
tors at work in the causation of this highly interesting anomaly, 
I may, perhaps, describe a case, which I had the good fortune to meet 
with recently. 
G. B., male, aged two years and eleven months; the sixth child 
of his parents, who were well formed and developed. He was born 
two or three weeks prematurely. I have no precise information, 
but, according to the mother’s statement, there was probably hy- 
dramnios. 
