Palmar dermatoglyphics among gutkha chewers with and without oral submucous fibrosis

Background: Palmar dermatoglyphics has been and is being studied in many diseases and alterations in normal patterns have been noted. It has been an accepted fact that genetics plays an important role in determination of palmar dermatoglyphic patterns. Millions of people chew gutkha, but all of them do not suffer from oral submucous fibrosis (o.s.m.f.) It seems likely that a genetic predisposition could be an underlying mechanism. Objectives: the present study aims to analyse various dermatoglyphic parameters in osmf and find a relation if any. Materials and methods: the study was conducted in the dept. of anatomy, J N. Medical college, belgaum. The study included 150 individuals . Results: significant findings in qualitative analyses of osmf patients include increase in frequency of arches, decrease in frequency of simple whorls, increase in pattern frequency in thenar/i area in both hands. Significant findings in quantitative analysis of osmf 1 patients include decrease in atd angle in both right and left hands. Conclusion: the above mentioned parameters may be considered as genetic markers for oral sub mucous fibrosis. With the help of these parameters a gutkha chewer who is at risk for developing osmf can be diagnosed .