The simian line: Down syndrome & asian populations!
January 10, 2009
The simian line is a ‘notorious’ hand crease and well-known for it’s significance in Down’s syndrome – more than half of these people have a simian line in 1 or both hands, while only about 1% of healthy populations have a simian line. Nevertheless, this line is also frequently observed in the hands of certain ethnic population – especially in Asians! In 1866, R.L. Down discovered in 1906 the relationship between the simian crease and Down’s syndrome. The simian line is also know as: the ‘simian crease’ or ‘single palmar transverse crease’. |
‘Healthy hands’ with the simian line usually do not have the other stereotypical hand features related related to Down syndrome are missing (examples of other Down syndrome-related hand features are: a short thumb, curved little finger, certain dermatoglyphic patterns in the palm and fingerprints).
In some (Asian) populations is extraordinary frequently seen, such as: Pygmies: 34.7 %; Gypsies: 14.3 %; Chinese: 13.0 %; Koreans: 11.2 % – more percentages are presented in the full article. READ FURTHER ABOUT THE SIMIAN LINE: |