Dermatoglyphic Patterns in Monozygotic Twins with Zimmermann-Laband Syndrome

Zimmermann-Laband syndrome is a rare genetic disorder. Patients show
multiple phenotypic abnormalities, including skeletal abnormalities of
fingers and toes and hypoplasia or aplasia of nails. We studied a pair
of monozygotic twins with this syndrome, confirmed at the molecular
level, and performed a dermatoglyphic analysis. The analysis showed
unusually simple patterning on all fingertips of both individuals: all
patterns were arches. There were additional anomalies on the palms. The
observed anomalies most likely reflect disharmony in the development of
mesodermal structures of the hand caused by the syndrome. Because
dermatoglyphs are complex traits, more research is warranted to unravel
the relationship between involved genes and palmar patterns.