Palmar dermatoglyphics in congenital hand anomalies.

A palmar dermatoglyphic study of 392 hands of patients with congenital hand anomalies was performed to evaluate the number of digital triradii, the position of an axial triradius, the incidence of hypothenar patterns, the pattern intensity, and the main line index. Remarkable variations, which are rare in normal hands, were frequently observed. The results deviated from the normal range in cases of ectrodactyly and syndactyly, but were within the normal range in cases of polydactyly. The dermatoglyphics associated with each type of hand anomaly was characteristic and discriminative. Dermatoglyphics was also helpful in evaluating the function of the hand, and in estimating the time of the damage to the hand in embryogenesis.