Assessment of clinical and etiological factors in nail dyschromias

---

Original Article

Author Details : Lalitha C, Shwetha S*, Asha G S

Volume : 7, Issue : 4, Year : 2021

Article Page : 324-330

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijced.2021.061

Suggest article by email

Get Permission

---

Abstract

Background: Healthy nails appear smooth and have consistent coloring. Nail dyschromias have a wide variety of presentation. There are numerous causes of discoloration of the nail affecting the nail plate, nail attachments, or the substance of the nail. Different pattern of nail dyschromias can point out certain dermatological or systemic diseases.
Aim: To evaluate the causes of nail dyschromias in our clinical setting.
Setting and Design:  Cross sectional observational study.
Materials and Materials: 200 patients presenting with nail dyschromias were included in the study from April 2015 to July 2015. Detailed history was taken and cause for nail dyschromias was evaluated.
Results:  115 (57.5%) were males and 85 (42.05%) were females.
The most seen nail dyschromia in this study was melanonychia (86.5%) followed by leukonychia (5%), blue chromonychia (5%), brown chromonychia (2%) yellow chromonychia (1.5%). The cause of nail dyschromias were:60 cases(33.3%) were due to antiretroviral drugs, 25(12.5%) due to HIV, 30(15%) physiological melanonychia, 7(3.5% of onychomycosis, 8(4%) of lichen planus, 7(3.5%) of eczema, 15(7.5%) vitamin B12 deficiency,   10(5%) chemotherapy induced blue chromonychia, 3(1.5%) haematoma, 10(5%) leukonychia, 3(1.5%) jaundice 2(1%) Addison’s disease induced, 3(1.5%) cosmetic induced and 17(7.5%) due to other dermatological and systemic conditions.
Conclusions: Examination of nail should always be a part of routine cutaneous examination and presentation with nail dyschromias should be worked up with the help of a good history and examination. Careful examination of the nail may help in identifying the root cause and many a times unravels some underlying systemic disorder
 

Keywords: Melanonychia, Chromonychia

How to cite : Lalitha C, Shwetha S, Asha G S, Assessment of clinical and etiological factors in nail dyschromias. IP Indian J Clin Exp Dermatol 2021;7(4):324-330

This is an Open Access (OA) journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.