Dermatoglyphic features in Prader-Willi syndrome with respect to chromosomal findings

Dermatoglyphic findings were compared in 38 Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) patients and 270 normal controls. Twenty-one of the PWS patients had an interstitial deletion of the proximal long arm of chromosome 15 and seventeen PWS cases had normal chromosomes. Findings in PWS are not diagnostic but do show some consistent deviations that can be used in the clinical evaluation of PWS patients. These include a displacement of the axial triradius away from the normal proximal position, an excess of whorls primarily on the thumbs, radial termination of the palmar A mainline, and lack of arches on the big toe. Deletion PWS patients were much more homogeneous than non-deletion cases with respect to plantar patterns. The previously reported deficit of plantar pattern intensity was restricted only to deletion PWS and was characterized by a lack of plantar interdigital II-IV patterns with almost exclusively hallucal distal loops.