THE PREVALENCE OF CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS OF DERMATOGLYPHS OF NIGERIANS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN RIVERS STATE.

Paul Chikwuogwo Wokpeogu and Paul John Nwolim*

ABSTRACT

Background: Dermatoglyphic patterns of the digits of the hands are so significant and helpful in personal identification as no two individuals on earth have exactly same patterns, not even identical twins. However, there has been reports of malformations of these patterns presented in different forms in dfferent places such as Ridge Aplasia, Ridge Hypoplasia, Ridge Dissociation, Ridges-off-the-end, Ridges-off-the-end and ridge dissociation. Aim: The study was aimed at determining the incidence and prevalence of malformations of dermtoglyphs in Nigerian population using Tertary Institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria. This study would provide data on Nigerian subjects which will be relevant to researchers and at large the Sub-Saharan Africa. Materials and Methods: Non-experimental survey design. The selection and collection of required parameters relied on informed consent of volunteer subjects. The palm prints were obtained using print scanner. The study involved 3,900 subjects (2,455 males, 1,445 females). Data analysis: Data analysis was carried out using (IBM) SPSS Statistics version 22. Results: The results of this study are as presented in table 1 below: the percentage prevalence of all the patterns in the males and females are zero (0%) and the total prevalence of the patterns as well is zero (0%) for all the patterns under investigation. Conclusion: Dermatoglyphic malformations are not present in the Nigerian population as such could used as a clue to crime investgation whenever the nationalities of the suspects are been querried as aganst the tradition of Nigeria been seen to be first in the list of suspects to every crime.

Keywords: Dermatoglyphs, Malformation, Ridge Hypoplasia, Ridge Dissociation.