This is a very rare situation, in which the extra digit is on the ring, middle or index finger. Of these fingers, the index finger is most often affected, whereas the ring finger is rarely affected.

This type of polydactyly can be associated with syndactyly, cleft hand and several syndromes.

Polysyndactyly presents various degrees of syndactyly affecting fingers three and four.

Syndactyly can be simple or complex.

- In simple syndactyly, adjacent fingers or toes are joined by soft tissue.

- In complex syndactyly, the bones of adjacent digits are fused. The kangaroo exhibits complex syndactyly.

Syndactyly can be complete or incomplete.

- In complete syndactyly, the skin is joined all the way to the tip of the involved digits.

- In incomplete syndactyly, the skin is only joined part of the distance to the tip of the involved digits.

Complex syndactyly occurs as part of a syndrome (such as Apert syndrome) and typically involves more digits than simple syndactyly.

Fenestrated syndactyly means the skin is joined for most of the digit but in a proximal area there is gap in the syndactyly with normal skin. This type of syndactyly is found in amniotic band syndrome.

Simple syndactyly can be full or partial, and is present at birth (congenital). In early human fetal development, webbing (syndactyly) of the toes and fingers is normal. At about 6 weeks of gestation, apoptosis takes place due to a protein named sonic hedgehog, also known as SHH, which dissolves the tissue between the fingers and toes, and the webbing disappears. In some fetuses, this process does not occur completely between all fingers or toes and some residual webbing remains.

Classification is performed by using x-ray imaging to see the bone structures.

Synpolydactyly is a joint presentation of syndactyly (fusion of digits) and polydactyly (production of supernumerary digits). This is often a result of a mutation in the HOX D13 gene.

Types include:

Ectrodactyly, split hand, cleft hand, derived from the Greek "ektroma" (abortion) and "daktylos" (finger) involves the deficiency or absence of one or more central digits of the hand or foot and is also known as split hand/split foot malformation (SHFM). The hands and feet of people with ectrodactyly are often described as "claw-like" and may include only the thumb and one finger (usually either the little finger, ring finger, or a syndactyly of the two) with similar abnormalities of the feet.

It is a rare form of a congenital disorder in which the development of the hand is disturbed. It is a type I failure of formation – longitudinal arrest. The central ray of the hand is affected and usually appears without proximal deficiencies of nerves, vessels, tendons, muscles and bones in contrast to the radial and ulnar deficiencies. The cleft hand appears as a V-shaped cleft situated in the centre of the hand. The digits at the borders of the cleft might be syndactilyzed, and one or more digits can be absent. In most types, the thumb, ring finger and little finger are the less affected parts of the hand. The incidence of cleft hand varies from 1 in 90,000 to 1 in 10,000 births depending on the used classification. Cleft hand can appear unilateral or bilateral, and can appear isolated or associated with a syndrome.

Split hand/foot malformation (SHFM) is characterized by underdeveloped or absent central digital rays, clefts of hands and feet, and variable syndactyly of the remaining digits. SHFM is a heterogeneous condition caused by abnormalities at one of multiple loci, including SHFM1 (SHFM1 at 7q21-q22), SHFM2 (Xq26), SHFM3 (FBXW4/DACTYLIN at 10q24), SHFM4 (TP63 at 3q27), and SHFM5 (DLX1 and DLX 2 at 2q31). SHFM3 is unique in that it is caused by submicroscopic tandem chromosome duplications of FBXW4/DACTYLIN. SHFM3 is considered 'isolated' ectrodactyly and does not show a mutation of the tp63 gene.

Carpenter syndrome presents several features:

- Tower-shaped skull (craniosynostosis)

- Additional or fused digits (fingers and toes)

- Obesity

- Reduced height

Intellectual disability is also common with the disorder, although some patients may have average intellectual capacity.

Very frequent signs

- Abnormal gastrointestinal tract

- Absent pectoral muscles

- Brachydactyly (Short fingers)

- Dextrocardia

- Diaphragmatic hernia/defect

- Humerus absent/abnormal

- Liver/biliary tract anomalies

- Maternal diabetes

- Oligodactyly/missing fingers

- Radius absent/abnormal

- Rhizomelic micromelia (relatively shorter proximal segment of the limbs compared to the middle and the distal segments)

- Sparsity or abnormality of axillary hair on affected side

- Syndactyly of fingers (webbing)

- Ulna absent/abnormal

- Upper limb asymmetry

- Abnormal rib

- Simian crease on affected side

Frequent signs

- Hypoplastic/absent nipples

- Scapula anomaly

Occasional signs

- Agenesis/hypoplasia of kidneys

- Encephalocele/exencephaly

- Abnormal morphology of hypothalamic-hypophyseal axis

- Abnormal function of hypothalamic-hypophyseal axis

- Microcephaly

- Preaxial polydactyly

- Ureteric anomalies (reflux/duplex system)

- Vertebral segmentation anomaly

Polysyndactyly is an hereditary anatomical malformation combining polydactyly and syndactyly. There is also a type called "crossed" polysyndactyly

Carpenter Syndrome belongs to a group of rare genetic disorders known as acrocephalopolysyndactyly, abbreviated ACPS (RN, 2007). There were originally five types of ACPS, but this number has been decreased because they have been found to be closely related to one another or to other disorders (Paul A. Johnson, 2002).

The most common physical manifestation of Carpenter Syndrome is early fusing of the fibrous cranial sutures which results in an abnormally pointed head. The fusion of the skull bones is evident from birth (National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc., 2008). Babies’ mobile cranial bones form a cone shape as the pass through the birth canal and soon thereafter return to a normal shape; however, a baby affected by carpenter syndrome maintains a cone shaped head.

A baby affected by Carpenter Syndrome will also display malformations of the face. An individual affected by the syndrome may have broad cheeks, a flat nasal bridge, and a wide upturned nose with abnormally large nasal openings. Their ears will most commonly be low, unevenly set, and malformed in structure. In addition to these facial abnormalities, individuals also have an underdeveloped maxilla and/ or mandible with a highly arched and narrow palate which makes speech a very difficult skill to master. Teeth are usually very late to come in and will be undersized and spaced far apart (Carpenter Syndrome-description).

Other physical abnormalities often associated with Carpenter Syndrome include extra digits. Extra toes are more commonly seen than fingers. Often both the toes and fingers are webbed, a process that occurs before the sixth week gestational period. Often their digits will be abnormally short, and the fingers are commonly missing an interphalangeal joint. Roughly half of the babies born with Carpenter Syndrome have some type of heart defect, and seventy five percent of individuals with this disease will experience some degree of development delay due to mild mental retardation (Carpenter Syndrome-description).

There are several classifications for cleft hand, but the most used classification is described by Manske and Halikis see table 3. This classification is based on the first web space. The first web space is the space between the thumb and the index.

Table 3: Classification for cleft hand described by Manske and Halikis

The triphalangeal thumb has a different appearance than normal thumbs. The appearance can differ widely; the thumb can be a longer thumb, it can be deviated in the radio-ulnar plane (clinodactyly), thumb strength can be diminished. In the case of a five fingered-hand it has a finger-like appearance, with the position in the plane of the four fingers, thenar muscle deficiency, and additional length. There is often a combination with radial polydactyly.

Impossible Syndrome, or Chondrodysplasia situs inversus imperforate anus polydactyly, is a complex combination of human congenital malformations (birth defects).

The malformations include chondrodysplasia (improper growth of bone and cartilage), situs inversus totalis (chest and abdominal organs all a mirror image of normal), cleft larynx and epiglottis, hexadactyly (six digits) on hands and feet, diaphragmatic hernia, pancreatic abnormalities, kidney abnormal on one side and absent on the other side, micropenis and ambiguous genitalia, and imperforate anus.

Only one case of Impossible Syndrome has been reported; the infant was premature and stillborn.

The Wassel classification is used to categorise radial polydactyly, based upon the most proximal level of skeletal duplication.

Specific types of additional body parts include:

- Accessory breast – one or more additional breasts

- Accessory spleen – one or more additional spleens

- Cervical rib – an additional rib

- Diphallia - Having two penes/penises.

- Hermaphroditism – having both sexes' sex organs

- Hyperdontia – additional teeth

- Pelvic digit – a bony growth in the soft tissue of the pelvic region

- Polycephaly – an extra head

- Polydactyly – additional fingers or toes

- Polymelia — an extra arm or leg.

- Polyorchidism – having three or more testicles

- Supernumerary bones – these additional bones are fairly common, particularly in the feet, and are frequently mistaken for fractures on x-rays.

- Supernumerary kidney – a third kidney

- Supernumerary nipples – an additional nipple

- Supernumerary phantom limbs – where the brain acts as though a limb were there, but it is not.

- Syndactyly – webbing between the fingers or toes

- Uterus didelphys – two vaginal canals and/or uteri

It involves numerous anomalies including:

- Post-axial polydactyly

- Congenital heart defects (most commonly an atrial septal defect producing a common atrium, occurring in 60% of affected individuals)

- Teeth present at birth (natal teeth)

- Fingernail dysplasia

- Short-limbed dwarfism, mesomelic pattern

- Short ribs

- Cleft palate

- Malformation of the wrist bones (fusion of the hamate and capitate bones).

The Pai Syndrome is a rare subtype of frontonasal dysplasia. It is a triad of developmental defects of the face, comprising midline cleft of the upper lip, nasal and facial skin polyps and central nervous system lipomas. When all the cases are compared, a difference in severity of the midline cleft of the upper lip can be seen. The mild form presents with just a gap between the upper teeth. The severe group presents with a complete cleft of the upper lip and alveolar ridge.

Nervous system lipomas are rare congenital benign tumors of the central nervous system, mostly located in the medial line and especially in the corpus callosum. Generally, patients with these lipomas present with strokes. However, patients with the Pai syndrome don’t. That is why it is suggested that isolated nervous system lipomas have a different embryological origin than the lipomas present in the Pai syndrome. The treatment of CNS lipomas mainly consists of observation and follow up.

Skin lipomas occur relatively often in the normal population. However, facial and nasal lipomas are rare, especially in childhood. However, the Pai syndrome often present with facial and nasal polyps. These skin lipomas are benign, and are therefore more a cosmetic problem than a functional problem.

The skin lipomas can develop on different parts of the face. The most common place is the nose. Other common places are the forehead, the conjunctivae and the frenulum linguae. The amount of skin lipomas is not related to the severity of the midline clefting.

Patients with the Pai syndrome have a normal neuropsychological development.

Until today there is no known cause for the Pai syndrome.

The large variety in phenotypes make the Pai syndrome difficult to diagnose. Thus the incidence of Pai syndrome seems to be underestimated.

Syndactyly (from Greek συν- meaning "together" and δακτυλος meaning "finger") is a condition wherein two or more digits are fused together. It occurs normally in some mammals, such as the siamang and diprotodontia, but is an unusual condition in humans.

Generally, triphalangeal thumbs are non-opposable. In contrast to most people with opposable thumbs, a person suffering from TPT cannot easily place his or her thumb opposite the other four digits of the same hand. The opposable thumb's ability to effortlessly utilize fingers in a "pinch" formation is critical in precision gripping. For the thumb to adequately grip, certain thumb criteria must be met (e.g. suitable position and length, stable joints and good thenar muscle strength). Because triphalangeal thumbs cannot easily oppose and do not possess many of the optimal qualities found in most opposable thumbs, they tend to cause the hand to be less effective in use and, therefore, prove to be more problematic in daily life.

Arachnodactyly ("spider fingers") or achromachia is a condition in which the fingers and toes are abnormally long and slender, in comparison to the palm of the hand and arch of the foot. Also, the individual's thumbs tend to also be pulled inwards towards the palm. It can be present at birth or develop in later life.

Congenital limb deformities are congenital musculoskeletal disorders which primarily affect the upper and lower limbs.

An example is polydactyly.

Oligodactyly (from the Ancient Greek "oligos" meaning "few" and δάκτυλος "daktylos" meaning "finger") is the presence of fewer than five fingers or toes on a hand or foot.

It is quite often incorrectly called "hypodactyly", but the Greek prefixes and are used for scales (e.g. in hypoglycaemia and hypercholesterolemia). This as opposed to or scales, where and should be used (e.g. in oligarchy and polygamy). Oligodactyly is therefore the opposite of polydactyly. Very rare, this medical condition usually has a genetic or familial cause.

Oligodactyly is sometimes a sign or symptom of several syndromes including Poland syndrome and Weyer Ulnar Ray Syndrome. It is a type of Dysmelia.

Ectrodactyly is an extreme instance of oligodactyly, involving the absence of one or more central digits of the hand or foot and is also known as split hand/split foot malformation (SHFM). The hands and feet of people with ectrodactyly are often described as "claw-like" and may include only the thumb and one finger (usually either the little finger, ring finger, or a syndactyly of the two) with similar abnormalities of the feet.

People with oligodactyly often have full use of the remaining digits and adapt well to their condition. They are not greatly hindered in their daily activities, if at all. Even those with the most extreme forms are known to engage in tasks that require fine control, such as writing and bootmaking as well as working as a cab driver.

Vadoma people of Zimbabwe have a high frequency of oligodactyly.

Sufferers usually have long, thin fingers and toes with contractures preventing straightening and limiting movement. Contractures also affect hips, elbows, knees and ankles. They also have unusual external ears that appear crumpled. Contractures may be present from birth and may appear as a club foot. Long bone fractures may also form a part of the syndrome, though the evidence for this is limited to the case report level.

People with the combination of Duane anomaly and radial ray malformations may have a variety of other signs and symptoms. These features include:

- Unusually shaped ears

- Hearing loss

- Heart and kidney defects

- A distinctive facial appearance

- An inward- and downward-turning foot (a clubfoot)

- Fused vertebrae.

This is characterized by hand and arm abnormalities. The following are specific characteristics:

- Malformed or absent (aplasia) thumb

- A thumb that looks more like a finger

- Partial or complete absence of a radius

- Shortening and radial deviation of the forearms

- Triphalangeal thumb

- Duplication of the thumb (preaxial polydactyly)

This feature can occur on its own, with no underlying health problems. However, it can also be associated with certain medical conditions. Examples include Marfan syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Loeys–Dietz syndrome, congenital contractural arachnodactyly, and homocystinuria.

Arachnodactyly has been linked to mutations in both fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2 genes.