Background. Darier's disease is an acantholytic dyskeratotic genoderma
tosis with autosomal dominant inheritance. A predictive diagnostic mar
ker for this disorder would be beneficial because of the relatively la
te onset and the large number of sporadic cases of the disease. The de
rmatoglyphic features of patients with Darier's disease were examined
to determine whether they have a common pattern. Methods. Ink prints o
f fingers and palms obtained from 11 patients of both sexes with spora
dic and familial Darier's disease were analyzed and compared with thos
e of normal subjects. Results. No significant quantitative or qualitat
ive differences were found between the dermatoglyphic features of our
patients and those of a healthy population, except for punctate interr
uptions of the skin ridges that indicate pitting, a well-known manifes
tation of Darier's disease. Conclusions. These results refute the conc
lusions of a previous publication claiming that there is a common char
acteristic dermatoglyphic feature in patients with this dermatosis.