Congenital Dislocation of the Shoulder and Other Anomalies

A case is presented of dislocation of both shoulders since birth. Whether the deformity was truly congenital in the sense of an intra-uterine maldevelopment or whether it was incidental to trauma at birth cannot be stated with certainty. Many dislocations reported as congenital, that is, as intra-uterine, are of paralytic origin or are possibly caused by trauma at birth. The case presented here illustrates the difficulty that arises in determining the etiologic factor of "congenital dislocations of the shoulder." Because of several other rare deformities, namely, amyoplasia congenita, congenital radio-ulnar synostoses, ectrodactylia and cervical ribs, this case assumes added interest. Some authors (Kirmisson and Broca) have been unable to produce dislocation of the shoulder joint experimentally in a new-born child and hence have concluded that a dislocation cannot result from the trauma of birth. There is no doubt, however, that paralysis caused by injury to the brachial plexus will cause