Radiographic Measurements of the Skeletal Structure of the Normal Hand

Abstract

Measurements of the bone structure of the normal hand were obtained from radiographs of the hands of 82 females and 51 male subjects. Several of the metacarpals and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th proximal phalanges were significantly narrower and had a higher index of relative slenderness in the left hand than in the right in the male patients. The bones of the female hands was consistently shorter, narrower and had a higher index of relative slenderness than the male hands. The slenderness of the 4th metacarpals was particularly noticeable in the female hands. More bones showed significant differences between left and right hands in the females than in the males. Several metacarpals and the 4th and 5th proximal phalanges were significantlyshorter in the left hand than in the right. There was no such difference in the male hands. There were no significant differences in the width or relative slenderness of the 5th proximal phalanges between the 2 hands in either sex. These differences which are not clearly related to hand dominance or to the amount of manual activity performed probably have a genetic basis.