Dermal Ridges, Patternless

Disturbance of ridge formation resulting in scattered short ridges or in ridges simply comprised of irregular dots is a feature in patients with Down syndrome and in some patients with limb malformations. It has also been observed as a familial disorder apparently transmitted as an autosomal dominant. Most earlier cases were reported from Japan (references in Holt, 1968) but it has also been reported in a Belgian pedigree by Dodinval (1972). Members of the family reported by Dodinval et al. (1971) had 'chapping' of the skin of the fingerpads. Green and Thomas (1978) found that cultures made from disaggregated human epidermal cells grow into a confluent cell layer, followed by emergence of patterns resembling those of human dermatoglyphics. It would be of interest to study cultured epidermal cells from persons with this disorder and persons with absence of fingerprints (136000). Also see Basan syndrome (129200).