Fingerprint patterns in Alzheimer's disease
H. J. Weinreb
Fingerprint dermatoglyphic patterns in 50 patients with presumed senile
dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) were compared with a control group of
50 patients with other neurologic diseases and with population norms.
Patients with SDAT showed a significantly increased frequency of ulnar
loops on their fingertips and a concomitantly decreased frequency of whorls
and arches. A pattern of eight or more ulnar loops was found significantly
more often in patients with SDAT (72%) than in the control group (26%).
Fourteen patients with SDAT had ulnar loops on all ten fingers; this
occurred in four patients in the control group. Radial loops on the fourth
and fifth digits were more prevalent in patients with SDAT. The fingerprint
patterns observed in patients with SDAT are congruent with patterns
repeatedly found in Down's syndrome, and support the known associations
between these two diseases at a further level.