adermatoglyphia

English

WOTD – 16 December 2017

Etymology

The epidermal ridges (fingerprint) of a person’s index finger. A person with adermatoglyphia has a congenital absence of such ridges.

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, the alpha privativum, a prefix forming words having a sense opposite to the word or stem to which it is attached; a-) + δέρμα (dérma, “skin”) + γλυφή (gluphḗ, “carving”) + -ία (-ía, “suffix forming feminine abstract nouns”); analysable as a- +‎ dermato- +‎ glyph +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ādûr'mətōglĭʹfĭə, IPA^(key): /eɪˌdɜː.mə.təʊˈɡlɪ.fɪ.ə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /eɪˌdɝ.mə.təˈɡlɪ.fi.ə/
• Hyphenation: ader‧ma‧to‧gly‧phia

Noun

adermatoglyphia (uncountable)

1. The rare congenital absence of epidermal ridges (fingerprints and toeprints).
   • 2011, “Genodermatoses”, in Lawrence Charles Parish, Sarah Brenner, Marcia Ramos-e-Silva, Jennifer L. Parish, editors, Manual of Gender Dermatology, Sudbury, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning, →ISBN, part III (Heredity and Environment), page 85:

     Dyskeratosis congenita is a rare congenital syndrome, characterized by the triad of reticular skin pigmentation, mucosal leukoplakia, and nail dystrophy, plus the predisposition to bone marrow failure and malignancy. […] Other cutaneous findings may include alopecia, hyperkeratosis of the palms and soles, and adermatoglyphia (loss of dermal ridges on fingers and toes).

   • 2016, Robert A. Norman, Marty Walsh, “Forensic Dermatology”, in Robert A. Norman, editor, Personalized, Evolutionary, and Ecological Dermatology, [Cham, Switzerland]: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, page 33:

     A problem in forensics for this type of identification is people who are born without or do not have fingerprints. A Swiss woman and a portion of her family members were born without fingerprints in a condition called adermatoglyphia. Her genotype was mapped and discovered she had a point mutation in the SMARCAD1 gene located in the chromosome 4q22, which caused her to be born without the loops, whorls, and arches in her digits that are associated with fingerprints […]. There are other cases that result in adermatoglyphia such as the disease dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis, Naegeli syndrome, and manual removal of one's fingerprints which is a temporary but painful technique.

2. The autosomally dominant genetic disorder which causes this condition.
   • 2011 August 12, Janna Nousbeck et al., “A Mutation in a Skin-specific Isoform of SMARCAD1 Causes Autosomal-dominant Adermatoglyphia”, in American Journal of Human Genetics, volume 89, number 2, →DOI, abstract, page 302:

     Monogenic disorders offer unique opportunities for researchers to shed light upon fundamental physiological processes in humans. We investigated a large family affected with autosomal-dominant adermatoglyphia (absence of fingerprints) also known as the "immigration delay disease."

   • 2017, Graham Lawton, Jeremy Webb, “The Body”, in How to be Human: The Ultimate Guide to Your Amazing Existence, London: John Murray; New York, N.Y.: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, →ISBN:

     A rare genetic condition called adermatoglyphia leaves some people with no fingerprints at all.

Derived terms

• adermatoglyphic

Related terms

• dermatoglyphic
• dermatoglyphics

Translations

rare congenital absence of epidermal ridges; genetic disorder which causes this condition

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 皮纹病

• Galician: adermatoglifia f
• German: Adermatoglyphie
• Greek: αδερματογλυφία (adermatoglyfía)
• Indonesian: adermatoglifia
• Italian: adermatoglifia
• Kazakh: адерматоглифия (adermatoglifiä)
• Portuguese: adermatoglifia
• Spanish: adermatoglifia (es)

Further reading

• adermatoglyphia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia