Arachnodactyly and unusual dermatoglyphics: study of a case

Clinical and dermatoglyphic findings are reported on a 3-yr old girl with multiple congenital anomalies and unusual dermatoglyphics. The anomalies, including contractural arachnodactyly, rhizomelia (a relative shortening of the proximal segment of the limbs), skin dimples, clinodactyly, disharmonic hand bone maturation, absent, hypoplastic and unusually positioned digital and metacarpophalangeal flexion creases, are not indicative of Marfan syndrome, but it is unclear what this syndrome constitutes. Among the child's most striking dermatoglyphic features, the fingertip patterns (mostly large whorls with extralimital triradii) extend proximally to the middle phalanx and are associated with unusually placed triradii. The furrows between the epidermal ridges are narrower on the volar aspects of the middle and distal phalanges than on the proximal phalanges and palms, resulting in a higher ridge density in the former areas. Dermatoglyphic comparisons between the proposita and her parents are provided. These dermatoglyphic aberrations may indicate the presence of a deleterious agent active during the period of the development of the ridge configurations and of the digital flexion creases.