Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2014
Palm-print and finger-print patterns were studied in a series of 330 patients with congenital heart disease and compared to a control group of 200 patients with acquired heart disease.
156 patiens had associated malformations, while 174 other patients had isolated heart disease. Both groups were studied separately.
Simian creases are more frequent in the malformed patients than in the controls, but the difference is only significant in patients with multiple malformations.
A triradius in the positions t' is seen with a higher frequency in patients with multiple malformations and in patients with isolated heart disease than in the controls. The position t” however is only more frequent in the group of patients with multiple malformations, and tends to be associated more often with a ventricular septal defect and Fallot's tetralogy than with an atrial septum defect, aortic stenosis, coarctation and patent ductus.
Hypothenar patterns are more frequent in patients than in controls.
The results concerning finger-print patterns show a diminished frequency of arches in patients with isolated heart disease compared with controls and patients with multiple malformations. Variations between the different types of congenital heart disease were not important. They are partly in agreement, partly in disagreement with the results of other authors.
21 patients with familial congenital heart disease show an increased frequency of ulnar loops and a low frequency of whorls compared to the rest of patients.
This study does not include classical chromosomal aberrations and no malformation syndromes besides the Holt-Oram syndrome and the supravalvular aortic stenosis syndrome. The first one is characterised by an increased frequency of axial triradius in the t” position and of simian creases, while the second one seems to be without any dermatoglyphic particularity.