Palmar and digital dermatoglyphic features of hypertensive and diabetic Malawian patients.

We determined the palmar and digital dermatoglyphic features of 165 black Malawian patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension, aged 25-66 years attending the medical outpatient clinics at Lilongwe and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospitals by analyzing their total finger ridge count (TFRC), pattern intensity index (PII), atd angle and a-b ridge counts and compared these parameters with those of healthy controls previously studied, matched for age and sex. Differences were observed only in digital ridge patterns: whorls were absent in hypertensive patients and in men with diabetes and hypertension; and there was a significant rise in percentage frequency of ulnar loops (P < 0.001) in women with hypertension.