Palmar flexion creases and dermatoglyphics in leprosy patients.

Palmar configurations of 115 male and 48 female leprosy patients were compared with 536 males and 426 female normal individuals of the same population. The data was derived from Nekararu (weavers) castes of Karnataka State, India. Among flexion creases, the single radial base crease (SRBC) especially showed more association with leprosy in both male and female patients than their respective controls. Among dermatoglyphics, only C-line types are significantly different in male leprosy patients as compared to their controls. The female patients also showed more C-absent lines than the control group. The susceptibility to bacterial infection may be due to some biologic deficiency which warrants continued investigation on a broader and more intensive basis.