Palmar and digital dermatoglyphic features of hypertensive and diabetic Malawian patients

We determined the palmar and digital dermatoglyphic features of 165 black Malawian patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension, aged 25-66 years attending the medical outpatient clinics at Lilongwe and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospitals by analyzing their total finger ridge count (TFRC), pattern intensity index (PII), atd angle and a-b ridge counts and compared these parameters with those of healthy controls previously studied, matched for age and sex. Differences were observed only in digital ridge patterns: whorls were absent in hypertensive patients and in men with diabetes and hypertension; and there was a significant rise in percentage frequency of ulnar loops (P < 0.001) in women with hypertension. Similarly, the percentage frequencies of whorls in women with both diabetes and hypertension were significantly lower than in women with hypertension alone (P < 0.05). The TFRC differentiated healthy subjects from hypertensive men (P < 0.05) and women (P < 0.001). Equally the a-b ridge count could differentiate diabetic and hypertensive men (P < 0.001) and women (P < 0.05) just as it did for women with diabetes alone and those with diabetes and hypertension (P < 0.001). The PII and atd angle were higher in patients than in healthy subjects. A higher than normal PII suggests the occurrence of these disease conditions in this African population, thereby providing a window for intervention in later life.