[Relationship between finger length and ridge count in patients with Marfan syndrome]

Palmar dermatoglyphs were studied in 38 patients with lens dislocation. The patients were distributed into three groups: Marfan syndrome, mild Marfan syndrome, isolated lens dislocation. Marked arachnodacytyly was observed in the first group. In these patients increase in finger length was positively correlated with the ridge count. Moderate increase in finger length and ridge count was observed in the second group. The relative finger length was lower in patients with isolated lens dislocation than in unaffected persons, though the ridge count did not differ from the control. The relations noted between the finger length and ridge count in Marfan syndrome are in agreement with the suggestion that these two parameters are determined by common cause, namely, the morphogenetic gradient in digital primordia.