Dermatoglyphics in the virilizing polycystic ovary syndrome

Quantitative and qualitative characteristics (form and orientation of the digital patterns, total digital ridges count, delta index, form and regional distribution of palmar patterns, palmar flexion creases, palmar delta index, atd angle, the direction of the A, B, C, and D palmar lines and the number of crests between the a, b, c, and d triradii) of digito-palmar dermatoglyphics in 33 women with virilizing polycystic ovary (VPO) were studied. The selection was made on the basis of the clinical examination and a complex bio-hormonal exploration of female patients with pilar virilism hospitalized in or treated at the outpatient clinic of the "C. I Parhon" Institute of Endocrinology between 1975 and 1984. The control lot was made up of 100 females and 100 males, clinically healthy, originally from various rural and urban areas in Romania. It was found that the VPO women come within the range of variability of the normal, with some dermatoglyphic peculiarities characteristic of the VPO syndrome; i.e., a lower total digital ridges count, and fewer ridges between the triradii at the basis of the fingers. Qualitatively, there is a preponderance of the loop-like digital patterns, especially those with radial orientation and palmar, compared to the normal, the VPO women present more frequently patterns in the interdigital space II. Palmar flexion lines indicate in VPO women a higher incidence of palmar transversal sulcus variants as compared to normal women. The existence of similar dermatoglyphic peculiarities both in VPO and in adrenogenital syndrome supports the hypothesis that the ovarian hormonogenesis disorders in the VPO syndrome may be genetically determined through an enzymatic defect.