The prevalence and familial tendency of absence of the palmaris longus muscle in Turkish population

Objectives: The prevalence of the absence of the Palmaris longus (PL) muscle varies considerably among different ethnic groups from 1.02% to 63.9%. The aim of this study was to determine the overall prevalence of PL absence in Turkish population and to correlate it with age, gender, hand dominancy, body side and familial tendency. Methodology: A total of 670 (339 males and 331 females) subjects from 115 families were investigated. The absence of PL, age, gender, laterality and hand dominance were recorded and analyzed statistically. Results: The overall prevalence of absence of PL was 32.2% in Turkish population. The overall prevalence of the absence of the PL in males and females was 26.2% and 38.3%, respectively. The prevalence of the absence of the PL was 3.6% on the right side and 5.8% on the left side. Conclusion: Rates of PL absence in Turkish population are much higher than other populations of the world previously reported. The absence of PL was statistically significantly more common in females than males. Bilateral absence of PL was statistically more frequent than unilateral absence. The prevalence of absence of PL was not correlated by hand dominancy.