Criminals have gone to great lengths to alter their fingerprints. A patient who develops hand and foot syndrome following chemotherapy may have his or her fingerprints disappear.
Risk factors for loss of fingerprints:
(1) moderate to severe hand and foot syndrome
(2) duration of acral inflammation
Some countries require analysis of fingerprints for international visitors. The loss of fingerprints can cause a visitor to be delayed or subjected to additional security measures. These can be reduced by:
(1) having a letter from a physician stating the problem
(2) altering the country prior to arrival
(3) investigating an alternative form of identification such as retinal scan
The patient will have problems using any security measure relying on thumbprint analysis. As the technology has improved and gotten cheaper these are more likely to be encountered.
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