[Dermatoglyphic studies in parents of children with Down's syndrome. I. Digital patterns]

Finger prints of 34 groups of parents with a child affected of Down's syndrome by regular trisomy were studied and then compared with 34 groups of parents with two or more normal children without family antecedents of genetic alterations. The separate study of the distribution of the pattern types in each of the fingers and the latter comparison of the two groups shows: Different distribution of the pattern types in the two groups. The groups of parents of children affected of Down's syndrome occupies an intermediate position between the group of parents of normal children and a group of subjects affected of Down's syndrome. The total sum of pattern types in each group were also compared using a table of contingency, indicating a difference (SD p less than 0.05) between both groups.