When syndactyly presents as an isolated anomaly, the inheritance pattern is:

• A. Autosomal dominant
• B. Autosomal recessive
• C. Codominant
• D. X-linked recessive

Answer: (A)

Isolated syndactyly is most commonly inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. In this mode, one copy of the abnormal gene is enough to produce the trait, so you often see affected individuals in multiple generations and a vertical transmission from parent to child. Sometimes the mutation arises de novo, but the trait tends to run through families with varying severity among individuals due to expressivity. Autosomal recessive would require two mutant copies and often appears in siblings with unaffected parents, which isn’t typical for isolated cases. Codominant inheritance and X-linked recessive patterns don’t fit the common presentation of isolated syndactyly, which is why autosomal dominant best explains this scenario.