Fingerprints in congenital rubella following maternal gamma globulin

The fingertip skin ridge patterns of ten children with the congenital rubella syndrome whose mothers had received gamma globulin following exposure to german measles during pregnancy were compared with those of 29 patients whose mothers had not received gamma globulin and with those of 162 control children. Statistical evaluation of the pattern profiles by the Mann-Whitney U-test showed that the dermatoglyphics of the two groups of patients differed significantly from each other. Each group also differed from the control children: there was a significant (p less than 0.001) increase in whorls in patients whose mothers had not had gamma globulin, but an increase (p = 0.001) in ulnar loops in those whose mothers had received gamma globulin.