Cytogenetic and dermatoglyphic studies of newborns with single umbilical artery.

Cytogenetic studies were carried out on 24 newborns with single umbilical artery (SUA), whereas dermatoglyphic analysis were performed on 14 of them. Metaphase examination showed increased size of the short arm of an acrocentric chromosome of group D or of group G in 6 of the 24 SUA babies studied. Numerous chromosome breaks were detected in one other case. Dermatologlyphic data showed that the total finger ridge count did not deviate from normal patterns, whereas the aTd angle showed increased values in 5 of the 14 cases studied. The absence of major chromosome aberrations does not exclude the possibility of chromosomal etiology for SUA, since the increased frequency of acrocentric polymorphism found in the present series and the 5 cases of increased aTd angle suggest such an occurrence.