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My Wife has NO Fingerprints?
Greetings,
I'm a US citizen living abroad in Costa Rica, I have a Costa Rican wife and (US Citizen) son. As a family we are in the final stages of moving permanently back to the USA and just two weeks ago we encountered a totally unexpected situation.
My wife has been totally approved by the US Embassy but as a final step, they cannot successfully take fingerprints off of her fingers! We have tried about a dozen times now, and the new rules of US immigration state that if there are no fingerprints...there is no VISA, thanks to their new electronic system. Exceptions are exceedingly rare, and this is causing havoc with my family plans. The Consular Officer has never experienced anything like this...and there appears to be no information about what she might have on the web.
My wife is healthy, 25 years old, with no unusual health conditions. Upon close examination of her fingers its clear that her fingerprints are so light as to be almost invisible, and most of her fingers are completely smooth! We have visited dermatologists here but frankly I'm no so content with their diagnosis. We have been told that she is suffering from an allergic reaction to some chemicals in the house...perhaps soaps, shampoos, dish washing fluids, etc. She does have some scarring on her legs, and she says that they itch frequently. Occasionally she is scratching her knee or her ankles, and she has a mild acne problem. But her fingers do not appear red or scarred, just smooth! She is now using some expensive creams and lotions which are "neutral" but we have yet to see results. The patience of the US Embassy is running out and I'm worried we may need better advice.
Anyone have any idea what this could be?
Paul S.
I'm a US citizen living abroad in Costa Rica, I have a Costa Rican wife and (US Citizen) son. As a family we are in the final stages of moving permanently back to the USA and just two weeks ago we encountered a totally unexpected situation.
My wife has been totally approved by the US Embassy but as a final step, they cannot successfully take fingerprints off of her fingers! We have tried about a dozen times now, and the new rules of US immigration state that if there are no fingerprints...there is no VISA, thanks to their new electronic system. Exceptions are exceedingly rare, and this is causing havoc with my family plans. The Consular Officer has never experienced anything like this...and there appears to be no information about what she might have on the web.
My wife is healthy, 25 years old, with no unusual health conditions. Upon close examination of her fingers its clear that her fingerprints are so light as to be almost invisible, and most of her fingers are completely smooth! We have visited dermatologists here but frankly I'm no so content with their diagnosis. We have been told that she is suffering from an allergic reaction to some chemicals in the house...perhaps soaps, shampoos, dish washing fluids, etc. She does have some scarring on her legs, and she says that they itch frequently. Occasionally she is scratching her knee or her ankles, and she has a mild acne problem. But her fingers do not appear red or scarred, just smooth! She is now using some expensive creams and lotions which are "neutral" but we have yet to see results. The patience of the US Embassy is running out and I'm worried we may need better advice.
Anyone have any idea what this could be?
Paul S.
As to whether she had these ridges and have become muffled can only be found by more refined techniques available in a forensic lab.
Thanks for the reply, but I've read about and doubt my wife has either of those rare genetic disorders, but we will definitely get it tested. She has no deformities or irregularities of any kind, perfect teeth, perfectly functional sweat glands, etc. There are no skin discolorations, or anything else that we can find that is at all unusual. Her parents do not appear to have any skin irregularities or other irregularities, either. I'm really curious because her feet do appear to have an infection which is damaging her toe nails on one of her feet. She also has itchy skin in and around her ankles and other shins.
One really curious thing is that on one of her feet, her toes appear to be missing ridgelines, but the other is fine and shows normal prints like her fingers should. The foot which has the nail irregularities is the one with the missing ridgelines, which appear smooth exactly like her fingers. Since she is always scratching her itchy foot, it makes me wonder if this is some kind of infection which has passed to her hands. If there is a connection between her foot and hands, it would contradict the allergy theory, since she is not washing dishes with her feet. But perhaps the conditions are not connected, I don't know.
Also, she has successfully had her fingers fingerprinted in the past, but just not recently. She's always had a bit of trouble getting fingerprinted, but never to this extent.
We visited another dermatologist this week, who became really interested in the case. After a close examination of her fingers he mentioned that her ridgelines are in fact missing...or at least worn away. This was a surprise to me because I thought perhaps the smoothness that is visible was really the excess growth of skin (like callouses?). But after he inspected her fingers closely, he confirmed that the ridgelines are not there at all...they are basically worn off. This dermatologist believes that it is an allergic reaction also, and that perhaps water is playing a factor, too. I'm just not too sure...this is pretty weird.
One really curious thing is that on one of her feet, her toes appear to be missing ridgelines, but the other is fine and shows normal prints like her fingers should. The foot which has the nail irregularities is the one with the missing ridgelines, which appear smooth exactly like her fingers. Since she is always scratching her itchy foot, it makes me wonder if this is some kind of infection which has passed to her hands. If there is a connection between her foot and hands, it would contradict the allergy theory, since she is not washing dishes with her feet. But perhaps the conditions are not connected, I don't know.
Also, she has successfully had her fingers fingerprinted in the past, but just not recently. She's always had a bit of trouble getting fingerprinted, but never to this extent.
We visited another dermatologist this week, who became really interested in the case. After a close examination of her fingers he mentioned that her ridgelines are in fact missing...or at least worn away. This was a surprise to me because I thought perhaps the smoothness that is visible was really the excess growth of skin (like callouses?). But after he inspected her fingers closely, he confirmed that the ridgelines are not there at all...they are basically worn off. This dermatologist believes that it is an allergic reaction also, and that perhaps water is playing a factor, too. I'm just not too sure...this is pretty weird.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,
After reading the symptoms,two diagnosis are coming to my mind.First is Dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis.It is a rare, autosomal dominant congenital disorder caused by a specific defect in the keratin 14 protein.The other possibility is of Naegeli syndrome.Both of these cause absence of fingerprints.Cutaneous biopsy may be helpful in confirming the diagnosis.
Pls consult a dermatologist and discuss these two possibilities with him.
Hope it helps. Take care and pls do keep me posted in case you have any additional queries.Kind regards.
After reading the symptoms,two diagnosis are coming to my mind.First is Dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis.It is a rare, autosomal dominant congenital disorder caused by a specific defect in the keratin 14 protein.The other possibility is of Naegeli syndrome.Both of these cause absence of fingerprints.Cutaneous biopsy may be helpful in confirming the diagnosis.
Pls consult a dermatologist and discuss these two possibilities with him.
Hope it helps. Take care and pls do keep me posted in case you have any additional queries.Kind regards.
As to whether such systems are available for public i would not know.But then surely it would record the ridges which may not be visible by standard procedure.
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