Imagine this: three thumbs growing on the right hand—how would they be arranged?

Recently, a baby just over 1 year and 8 months old with combined polydactyly and syndactyly (polysyndactyly), treated by Vice President Zhang Songjian, a hand and foot surgery specialist, once again reshaped our understanding of polydactyly.

Both hands presented thumb polydactyly: the right hand grew three thumbs, and the two extra ones formed a "heart" shape.

The baby, named Hanghang (pseudonym), had the three right-hand thumbs arranged in a row, while the two additional thumbs together more closely resembled a "heart / ❤" shape.

[Image 640-3 / 640-4 / 640-5 — polydactyly of both hands, syndactyly of both feet]

Polydactyly of both hands, syndactyly of both feet.

Director Zhang said: "Three thumbs, though rare, is also a form of polydactyly. Besides the right thumb being triplicated, the left thumb is also polydactylous, and both feet have syndactyly. The overall treatment is relatively complex, yet the difficulty is not high…"

In formulating the surgical plan, Director Zhang was meticulous and comprehensive. He said: "With polydactyly of both hands and syndactyly of both feet, we treat three sites in the first stage (both hands and the right foot)."

Why treat three sites first in stage one (both hands and the right foot), and why choose the right foot first? When discussing the treatment plan with us, Director Zhang gave two reasons and considerations:

First: The time required for syndactyly separation and suture is relatively long. When designing the surgical plan, we must both respect the baby's surgical tolerance and accomplish as much excision and separation as possible. Choosing both hands and the right foot is the most reasonable and optimal balance of the two.

Second: The right foot had syndactyly of the first and second toes, while the left foot had syndactyly of the second and third toes. We chose to separate the right foot's syndactyly first because, with first–second toe syndactyly on the right, the great toe is larger and therefore requires more skin coverage at separation. Preoperatively we prepared a plan to "use the excised excess skin for coverage."

[Image 640-8] [Image 640-9 — postoperative: thumb polydactyly of both hands]

[Image 640-10] [Image 640-11 — postoperative: right-foot syndactyly separation (no skin graft)]

Director Zhang said: "Although we had prepared a surgical plan, during the procedure the right-foot syndactyly separation went exactly as designed—the separation incision was very reasonable, so the excess tissue was not needed…"

Seeing the child recover so well, Hanghang's mother said: "A weight has lifted from my chest; I'm so happy, and deeply grateful to Director Zhang. With the two surgeries about 3 months apart (left-foot second–third toe separation), we're not worried at all…"

[Image 640-7 / 640-8 / 640-5 / 640-16 — comparison: before treatment vs. immediately postoperative]

Full, natural, and aesthetically pleasing contour; good function.

In addition, the left foot's syndactyly was separated about 3 months later. Hanghang's mother said: "We had originally planned to come for treatment during the National Day holiday; at that point we decided on inpatient surgery. Now the baby has recovered well—Renji and Director Zhang did not let us down."

"Previously we never made up our minds to treat him—we hadn't found a good hospital, and we thought the child was too young. Now, seeing other babies all complete treatment at five or six months old, I feel our child's treatment came a bit late…"

We want to say: When parents discover their baby has polysyndactyly, they will feel just like Hanghang's mother—confused, panicked, and overwhelmed. Yet the mothers' sharing is like "timely rain," letting more parents know what to do.

Let love pass on; cheer for the babies. It is precisely this relay of love that enables countless babies to achieve ideal recovery earlier and better.