Crumpled hands in case of water contact

Question

I have just followed the question resp. the answer with interest.
It strikes me that my daughter (2 years old) also shows very fast crumpeling of the hands when she is taking a bath, I just have read that this phenomenon is found also in carriers, even if it is not so distinct. Our other daughter (4 years old) does not suffer from CF, now my question, in what range of time do the hands get crumpled at a gene-carrier in comparison to the "non-gene-carrier"??? Can one make a comment on this at all?
I know that this is not a secure statement about a carrier or non-carrier. But I find this a rather interesting phenomenon.
Thanks

Answer

Hello,
In the literature, single case reports on this topic can be found. Only in a publication from june this year it is investigated systematically, how long the time-interval is also in carriers of CF-mutations, when the hands start to crumple in case of water contact. In this publication (see below), the median time at the control persons was 11 minutes, 7 minutes in carriers and 2 minutes in CF-patients. Therfore it seems to be that in carriers of CF-mutations the hands start crumpeling faster. From the overall 49 investigated participants of the study 80% of the 21 CF-patients showed crumpeling of the hands, while this was only the case in 25% of the 13 carriers.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Helmut Ellemunter

Gild R, Clay C, Morey S. Aquagenic Wrinkling Of The Palms in Cystic Fibrosis And The Cystic Fibrosis Carrier State - A Case Control Study. Br J Dermatol. 2010 Jun 18. [Epub ahead of print]

05.10.2010