A child with congenital amputation of the foot.

Congenital amputation of a limb is a rare birth defect characterized by failure of formation of the terminal part of an extremity. Also known as congenital transverse deficiency, this condition is thought to be due to mechanical disruption of a developed limb rather than a congenital malformation.1 It can affect one or more limbs2 and an upper limb deformity is more commonly seen.3 We present here a case of congenital amputation of foot as clinical quiz to briefly highlight the clinical features of this rare birth defect and its etiology and management. A 2-month old male child was brought to our outpatient department with the complaints of absent left foot and toes since birth. He was the first child of non-consanguineous parents born at term by an uneventful vaginal delivery. Although the mother did not attend regular antenatal checkups, there was no history of fever with rashes, drug intake or exposure to radiation during pregnancy. Clinical examination revealed absent forefoot and midfoot with rudimentary toe buds. It looked like a surgical partial foot amputation (Figure 1). There was no evidence of congenital constriction bands or limb length discrepancy, and rest of the skeletal survey was normal. Examination of the chest, abdomen and cardiovascular system were normal. Radiographic examination showed normal tibia and fibula with absence of all the bones of left foot except talus and few rudimentary bones (Figure 2).