[Dermatoglyphic diagnosis in patients with atopic eczema]

The purpose of this investigation was to find out whether the new Dermalog system could be used in conjunction with dermatoglyphics in patients with atopic dermatitis. For this purpose, 92 patients with atopic eczema (58 women and 34 men) were examined and were compared with two different control groups. The first control group, representing the normal population, consisted of 100 female and 100 male randomly selected subjects. The second control group (55 women and 24 men) excluded any persons with a history of atopic syndrome. First of all, hand and fingerprints were taken. The data were stored in a computer and were statistically analysed with the aid of significance and discrimination tests. Evaluation of the patients' data showed no significant difference from the first control group. Results in the second, selected, control group were better. For example, in this group, in which the probability was 93.1%, 76.4% of the women examined were found to have atopic dermatitis. The probability among the male patients examined was 99.9% and the corresponding sensitivity, 77.0%.