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Congenital abnormalities of the digits are not uncommon. Syndactyly occurs in about 1 per 2000 births, and polydactyly in up to 1 per 600 births. Sometimes there is a family history, but often the etiology is unclear. This study was conducted to evaluate whether a relation exists between maternal smoking and congenital digital anomalies.
These researchers identified cases and controls from the U.S. Natality database for 2001 and 2002 (available from the National Center for Health Statistics).The database contains maternal health risk factors, parental demographic information, and newborn health characteristics that were recorded by the attending physician or nurse for more than 8 million live births in all 50 states and the District of Colum…