Goodman syndrome

A genetic syndrome characterized by acrocephalosyndactyly -- birth defects involving the head and face and the fingers.

The craniofacial features are essentially those of acrocephaly while the finger abnormalities include polydactyly (extra fingers), syndactyly (fusion of the fingers), clinodactyly, and ulnar deviation (with the fingers deviated laterally, toward the ulnar bone).

The syndrome is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait (unlike most forms of acrocephalosyndactyly which are autosomal dominant traits).

The syndrome was described in 1979 by the pioneering American-Israeli medical geneticist Richard M.

Goodman and his colleagues who called it acrocephalopolysyndactyly IV (ACPS IV).

Today it is sometimes called Goodman syndrome.