Abstract
Extract: The frequency of digital patterns (whorls, ulnar loops, radial loops, and arches) was studied in 120 congenital rubella patients, in their mothers, and in 79 of their fathers. Comparison of the patients with control subjects (250 males and 250 females) showed a significant excess of whorls in the patients (P < 0.0005). In the control subjects, males showed a slight excess of whorls, and females a significant excess of arches (P < 0.01); in the patients these sex differences were markedly accentuated (whorls, P < 0.0005; arches, P < 0.0005). When the parents were studied, it was found that the mothers did not differ significantly from controls but that the fathers had a raised whorl frequency (P < 0.0005). However, the patients had a higher whorl frequency than either their mothers or their fathers (P < 0.0005), which suggests that this high whorl frequency could be attributed to direct teratogenesis. The 79 available parental pairs were divided into high whorl parents (HWP) and low whorl parents (LWP); the affected children of HWP had significantly more whorls than children of LWP (P < 0.0005), which suggests that there was an underlying inherited component in digital whorl determination.
Speculation: Although high whorl frequencies have been reported in congenital rubella, the relative contributions of genetic and viral influences and the apparent dominance of the latter have not been elucidated previously; the demonstration of a raised whorl frequency in the fathers and the observation of accentuated sex differences in the patients may be relevant to the understanding of viral embryopathy.
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Purvis-Smith, S., Menser, M. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Digital Dermatoglyphics in Congenital Rubella. Pediatr Res 7, 215–219 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197304000-00026
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197304000-00026
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