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AN ADULT PATIENT WITH NAIL ABNORMALITY

KC Koh MMed (Internal Medicine), MBBS (Manipal)
Department of Medicine, Clinical School, International Medical University, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia (Koh Kwee Choy)

Address for correspondence: Dr Koh Kwee Choy, Senior Lecturer, Department of Internal Medicine, Clinical School, International Medical University, Jalan Rasah, 70300 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Tel: +606-7679 896, Fax: +606-7677 709, Email: kweechoy_koh@imu.edu.my

Conflict of interest and funding: None to declare.

Koh KC. An adult patient with nail abnormality. Malaysian Family Physician. 2011;6(1):34-35

CASE HISTORY

This is the photograph of an adult male with Human Immunodeficiency Virus -Hepatitis C virus (HIV-HCV) co-infection. He was on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV infection. The liver function tests showed hypoalbuminemia and elevated serum transaminases while liver ultrasonography showed coarse echotexture compatible with liver cirrhosis.

QUESTION

1. What is the nail abnormality seen in this patient?
   
   1. Beau’s lines
   2. Muehrcke’s lines
   3. Terry’s nails
   4. Half-and-half nails
   5. Mees’ lines
2. What are the conditions that can be associated with this nail abnormality?

ANSWER:

1. Terry’s nails
2. Liver cirrhosis, chronic congestive heart failure, adult-onset diabetes mellitus (both insulin and non-insulin dependent) and ageing.

DISCUSSION

Terry’s nails was first described in 1954 and was characterized by a distal pink-to-brown transverse band, 0.5-3 mm wide and a proximal white nail with or without the lunula.^1,2 It was associated with cirrhosis, chronic congestive heart failure, adult-onset diabetes mellitus, and age. Holzberg et al. proposed that Terry’s nails are part of the ageing process and the associated conditions merely expedited the ageing of the nails. Contrary to common belief, it was not associated with hypoalbuminemia or anemia. Instead, the underlying pathology was thought to be due to telangiectasias or vascular changes associated with the conditions above.

Terry’s nails may be confused with half-and-half nails which is an occasional but extremely specific finding in patients with chronic renal failure. In the latter, the distal portion of the nails is characteristically brown in colour.³ Beau’s lines are transverse depressions in the nails which may result from trauma, exposure to cold, Raynaud’s disease, or any episodic disease serious enough to disrupt normal nail growth.⁴ Muehrcke’s lines are pairs of transverse white lines parallel to the lunula extending across the entire nail bed and are associated with hypoalbuminemia.⁴ Mee’s lines are tranverse milky white lines which were classically associated with arsenic poisoning but are also seen in any acute illness or chemotherapy.⁵

These nail bed abnormalities are easily recognisable and should alert the clinician to look for associated disorders especially in younger patients.

REFERENCES

1. Terry R. White nails in hepatic cirrhosis. Lancet. 1954;266(6815):757-9. [PubMed]
2. Holzberg M, Walker HK. Terry's nails: revised definition and new correlations. Lancet. 1984;1(8382):896-9. [PubMed]
3. Cabana MD, Ensor A, Tunnessen WW Jr. Picture of the month. Half-and-half fingernails. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1998;152(9):923-4. [PubMed] [Full text]
4. Fawcett RS, Linford S, Stulberg DL. Nail abnormalities: clues to systemic disease. Am Fam Physician. 2004;69(6):1417-24.[PubMed] [Full text]
5. Williams ME. Examining the fingernails when evaluating presenting symptoms in elderly patients. Medscape. 2009. [Online] [Link]