[Brachymetapodies: diagnostic and therapeutic aspects. Apropos of 3 cases].

The authors present 3 cases of brachymetapody (or "hereditary type E brachydactyly"). These conditions are defined by an abnormal shortness of some metacarpals and metatarsals, sometimes associated with other malformations and short stature. The feet may require a surgical correction with different alternatives, adapted to the type of malformations: lengthening of the short rays if they are the least numerous, shortening of one single "long" ray. Surgical indications depend upon pain, more than upon aesthetic considerations. In one of the reported cases, bilateral shortening osteotomy of the first metatarsal and proximal phalanx was performed.