Adermatoglyphia aka Immigration delay disease

Every human being has unique epidermal ridges on the palms including fingers which enable us to fingerprint. Fingerprinting is now a commonly utilized method of identifying individuals because of the uniqueness. What happens when you don’t have any unique fingerprint to be identified with due to an absence of these ridges on your fingers?

Yes, you heard that right. Some people are unable to fingerprint because they were either born without these ridges on their fingers (congenital adermatoglyphia) or they developed it later in life (acquired adermatoglyphia). The congenital one may be inherited alone or as part of a syndrome where you may have abnormalities in the hair, skin and nails. It is an uncommon condition.

The acquired one may be caused by conditions such as allergic or irritant contact dermatitis (which I have written about before here)

Let’s talk about hand dermatitis

leprosy, fungal infections, some drugs like retapamulin, atorvastatin, prolonged use of topically applied steroids amongst others.

Did you know that this condition is also called Immigration delay disease? We all know fingerprinting is a common mode of identification at the airport and even when you need to get your passport or write some exams.

The patient that prompted me to write this had an acquired form of adermatoglyphia and the poor girl had missed her exams twice because of this. It wasn’t until she got to us that she found a way out and she had to get a comprehensive medical report to cover for this.

Is adermatoglyphia curable? For most cases of the congenital ones – No.
In the acquired ones, the ridges may return after some time although the timing is not predictable.
The management of adermatoglyphia is to leave alone and ensure good care of the hands (moisturize liberally) if there are no other areas of the body involved (e.g if it is part of a syndrome).

For the acquired ones, manage the underlying cause if possible.

For all cases of adermatoglyphia, speak to your doctor to write you a comprehensive medical report to explain the condition so you can present this report in places where you need fingerprinting as part of identification. Other forms of identification such as using iris scanners may be employed.

My patient is happy now because she has gotten a diagnosis and a detailed report about her medical condition.

So, there you have it. Now you know about adermatoglyphia aka Immigration delay disease.

Any questions, comments or clarifications?

Featured image from Dieprebi, A. A., Dasetima, D. A., Bolaji, O.-O., & Belema, A. (2020). Adermatoglyphia: Challenges and Prospects in Diagnosis. Asian Journal of Research in Dermatological Science, 3(1), 30-39.