Pérdida del dactilograma durante la senilidad

Abstract

The dactylogram is of one´s own human skin and can be observed in the volar face of fingers, palms of hands and soles of feet, it is characterized by having a unique and distinguishable order. This pattern is fundamental in human identification because it is unique, particular, immutable, perennial, easy to observe, compare and store. Changes in senile skin have been described, but few have observed the loss of this pattern. Our objective was to evidence the loss of the dactylogram in Chilean senile individuals and establish if age and sex are variables related to this phenomenon. The sample included 487 individuals (120 men and 367 women) between the ages of 55 to 107 years. In them the presence or absence of dactylogram on the palmar face of the thumbs was recorded. The obtained data were processed statistically. It was determined that age is a variable related to the loss of the dactylogram and that the older the subject, the more likely this feature is not present (At 82 years, 25 % do not present dactylogram, at 88 years it increases to 50 % and at 95 years, 75 % no longer have such pattern). Likewise, sex determined significant differences in the dactylogram fading, with women being more prone to the loss of this pattern (51.77 % of the sample) than men (37.5 % of the sample). But the latter have an additional 42.4 % risk of losing the dactylogram earlier than women. This work demonstrates that the dactylogram is lost in senility. So far, this fact had not been proven. Therefore, this study is a significant contribution in the field of morphology and human identification, revealing that an important part of the Chilean population has lost its fingerprint-based identity.