Dermatoglyphic Characteristics of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is frequently involved in the articulations of the hands and feet, is known to be related with inheritance. Dermatoglyphics, the patterns of ridges on the skin of the fingertips, palms, and soles, are mostly related with inheritance. The purpose of this study is to verify the possibility that dermatoglyphics are helpful for the diagnosis of RA.

We attempted to compare the characteristics of the fingerprints, palmprints, and palm creases in 67 Korean RA patients (RA group) to those in 3,216 normal Korean persons. In the RA group, the radial loop and whorl were more frequent whereas the arch and ulnar loop were less frequent. The total fingerprint ridges were more numerous and 11 palmprint D type was more frequent in the RA group. Also, the Simian and Sydney creases were more frequent and the total degree of palm crease transversality was lower in the RA group. In addition, a part of the dermatoglyphic characteristics of the Korean RA group were different from those of the Indian RA group.

These results suggest that dermatoglyphics may be helpful in the diagnosis of Korean RA patients.