[Papillary pattern of male chronic alcoholics].

Dermatoglyphics was studied in 90 males suffering from chronic alcoholism to show a significant variability in the complex of dermatoglyphic indices, depending upon the clinical signs of the disease (differences in the degree of the disease progression, the presence of alcoholic psychoses, hereditary aggravation by alcoholism). All the male alcoholics showed a drop in the ridge density on the terminal phalanx of the fingers, compared to that of the control group. This phenomenon is of certain interest from the standpoint of diagnostic and prognostic significance and should be studied more thoroughly to have a deeper insight into its nature.