CONGENITAL DERMATOGLYPHIC MALFORMATIONS IN SEVERE BIPOLAR DISORDER

Dermatoglyphic alterations may be the result of early prenatal disturb ances thought to be implicated in the aetiology of psychiatric illness . In order to test this hypothesis in the particular case of bipolar d isorder, we assessed two congenital dermatoglyphic malformations (ridg e dissociation (RD) and abnormal features (AF)) and two metric dermato glyphic traits (total finger ridge count (TFRC) and total a-b ridge co unt (TABRC)) in a sample of 118 patients with chronic DSM-III-R bipola r illness, and 216 healthy controls. Bipolar cases showed a significan t excess of RD and AF (OR = 2.80; 95% CI: 2.31-3.38) when compared wit h controls. In the cases, the presence of anomalies was associated wit h earlier age of onset. No differences were found for TFRC and TABRC. No associations were found with sex or familial morbid risk of psychia tric disorders. Our findings add further weight to the suggestion that early developmental disruption is a risk factor for later bipolar dis order. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.