Finger and Palmar Prints as a Biomarker of Bronchial Asthma: A Study of Abuja Residents.

Palmer dermatoglyphics is a simple, inexpensive and non-invasive anatomical procedure which may be used as a reliable indicator for screening of high risk population in a developing country like India. Bronchial asthma is influenced by genetic factors and the present study was carried out to show the relationship between the dermatoglyphic quantitative & qualitative parameters with patients of bronchial asthma. Dermatoglyphic prints were obtained from both hands of clinically diagnosed cases of 50 bronchial asthma patients and 50 normal healthy individuals, without family history of bronchial asthma (control group). The study included both qualitative and quantitative tests. Qualitative study includes finger print patterns (whorls, radial loop, arches, and ulnar loop). Quantitative study includes Total Finger Ridge count (TFRC), Left and Right Finger ridge count (LFRC and RFRC) and ATD angle. In this study a significantly higher number of ulnar loops and whorls were seen in the bronchial asthma group and it was seen that the presence of arches and radial loop were lower (although not significantly) than that compared to the control group. TFRC was seen to be significantly higher among the bronchial asthma patients. No significant results were obtained for LFRC and RFRC. ATD angle was significantly higher in patients with Asthma compared to control. Evaluation of dermatoglyphic patterns may be useful in identifying patients prone to developing Bronchial Asthma.

Key Words: bronchial asthma, dermatoglyphics, fingerprints