An investigation of the palmar distribution of sweat glands pores in women with hypertension in Khorasan province

Essential hypertension which affects 1 billion people worldwide is a multifactorial disorder and influenced by genetic and environmental factors. In human at about 14th week of pregnancy, sweat gland anlagen appear at uniform intervals along the apices of the epidermal ridges. Once the pores of sweat gland form on the ridge, they are fixed at that location. Considerable amount of researches have shown that pores do not disappear, move or spontaneously generate over time. The goal of the present study was to examine whether there is a relationship between the number of palmar sweat gland pores and hypertension condition. By applying a digital microscope, the number of palamr sweat gland pores were counted in a circle area (12.5 –16.8 mm2) of certain anatomical regions (a, b, c triradials and fingers) in 75 hypertensive and 55 normotensive females. The average age of all patients was 60 years and the average age of all controls was 49 years and all patients had a familial background of hypertension. Statistical analysis of the data showed that the mean count of sweat gland's pores on fingers and b triradial in hypertensive group was significantly lower than normotensive subjects. In conclusion, the results obtained from the present study indicate that there is a meaningful relation between the numbers of fingertip sweat glands pores and hypertension. This finding can be used for the prognosis and early detection of hypertension in susceptible persons, particularly among those with a familial background.