Palmaris Longus Agenesis

The prevalence of palmaris longus agenesis (PLA) has been variously reported to be from 1.5% to 64% in different ethnic groups. Finding the state of PLA among Iranian people was the aim of this study. 1008 participants were included in this deh1ive study during a 6-month period in a teaching hospital in Tehran-Iran. The Schaeffer test was used to detect the presence or absence of palmaris longus. The role of gender and handedness was also assessed in PLA. The prevalence of PLA was estimated at 22.8% - 10.2% agenesis on the right side 5.9% on left side and 6.7% on both sides. The relationship between PLA and gender didn’t appear to be significant. Right handedness was seen in 90.9% of cases with PLA and 72.5% of those without PLA (p=.000 OR=3.8). The prevalence of PLA in Iranian people studied were comparable to the average Caucasian values in the literature.