Ulnar deviation of the fingers.

Ulnar deviation of the fingers at their metacarpophalangeal joints is perhaps the most characteristic deformity of rheumatoid arthritis. Nineteenth-century clinicians, among others Garrod (1859) and Charcot (1881), were impressed by its occurrence in chronic arthritis, but no views on the development of the deformity were recorded. The current opinion, that it results from gravity, is open to objections to be mentioned later. The deformity is unsightly rather than disabling, and may thus be a source of embarrassment to the patient; various splints have been designed for its prevention and correction, but such prophylactic measures do not seem to have been inspired by inquiry into causation.