ABSTRACT
One of the characteristic findings in patients with diastruphic dwarfism (diastrophic dysplasia) is hypoplasia of the first metacarpal. This metacarpal hypoplasia results in a low-set, laterally directed thumb, the hitch-hiker’s thumb. Although this abnormality was emphasized in the 1960 article’ that first described this new type of dwarfism, it was apparently not until 1968 that the term hitchhiker’s thumb was used to describe this peculiar clinical and radiographic finding 2 .
