Adermatoglyphia

Adermatoglyphia is an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes a person to have no fingerprints. There are only four known extended families worldwide that are affected by this condition.

In 2007, the description of a case of a person from Switzerland lacking fingerprints as an isolated finding was published. The phenotype was mapped to chromosome 4q22. In the splice-site of a 3' exon of the gene for SMARCAD1-helicase, a point mutation was detected. It results in a shortened form of the skin-specific protein. The heterozygous mode of mutation suggests an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance.

Other conditions can cause a lack of fingerprints, but unlike them, adermatoglyphia has no other side effects. Mutations in helicases are involved in other rare genetic diseases, for instance Werner syndrome.

External links

• The dictionary definition of adermatoglyphia at Wiktionary

Classification	ICD-10: Q82.8 OMIM: 136000
External resources	Orphanet: 289465