1/19. A case of melanonychia caused by exophiala dermatitidis.We report a case of a healthy 61-year-old woman with discoloration of the nail on her right big toe. We first treated her with topical steroid and urea under suspected diagnosis of nail eczema, but the lesion remained. In culture, black, shiny, pasty and yeast-like colonies grew repeatedly. Examination of debris from her nail showed dematiaceous spherical cells and hyphal elements. Microscopically, annelloconidia were produced at the apical ends of anellidic conidiogenous cells. This colony grew at 40C. Mitochondrial dna restriction fragment length polymorphism was analysed in this strain and its restriction pattern confirmed the isolate to be exophiala dermatitidis. Based on these findings, we diagnosed this nail deformity as fungal melanonychia due to exophiala dermatitidis. This is the third reported case of this disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/19. The ABC rule for clinical detection of subungual melanoma.BACKGROUND: Subungual melanoma is a relatively rare disease with reported incidence between 0.7% to 3.5% of all melanoma cases in the general population. Unlike the significant improvement in the diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma, the diagnosis of subungual melanoma has shown little, if any, improvement over the years. The widespread adoption of the ABCDs of cutaneous melanoma has helped increase public and physician awareness, and thus helped increase the early detection of cutaneous melanoma; the same criteria cannot be applied to the examination of the nail pigmentation. OBJECTIVE: We reviewed the world literature on subungual melanoma and arranged the available information into a system for the identification of subungual melanoma. This system has to be thorough, easy to remember, and easy to apply by both physician and lay public. A case to illustrate the delayed diagnosis often encountered in the current evaluation of nail melanoma is presented. methods: A thorough review of the world literature on subungual melanoma was undertaken. The important findings of various studies and case reports were compared among themselves and the salient features were summarized. The information was then categorized under the easily recalled letters of the alphabet, ABCD, that have already become associated with melanoma. RESULTS: The most salient features of subungual melanoma can be summarized according to the newly devised criteria that may be categorized under the first letters of the alphabet, namely ABCDEF of subungual melanoma. In this system A stands for a ge (peak incidence being in the 5th to 7th decades of life and african americans, Asians, and native Americans in whom subungual melanoma accounts for up to one third of all melanoma cases. B stands for brown to black b and with breadth of 3 mm or more and variegated borders. C stands for change in the nail band or lack of change in the nail morphology despite, presumably, adequate treatment. D stands for the digit most commonly involved; E stands for extension of the pigment onto the proximal and/or lateral nailfold (ie, Hutchinson's sign); and F stands for family or personal history of dysplastic nevus or melanoma. CONCLUSION: Although each letter of the alphabet of subungual melanoma is important, one must use all the letters together to improve early detection and thus survival of subungual melanoma. Still, as with cutaneous melanoma, the absolute diagnosis of subungual melanoma is made by means of a biopsy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/19. Onychomatricoma: report of three cases, including the first recognized in a colored man.Onychomatricoma is an uncommon benign tumor of the nail matrix with typical clinical features. We report here 3 cases of onychomatricoma, including the first case in a black patient. In all three patients a presumptive diagnosis of onychomatricoma was made by clinical examination. The affected nails were thickened and showed a marked overcurvature of the nail plate. Frontal view of the nail revealed the presence of small woodworm-like cavities within the nail plate. In all cases the pathology showed multiple fibroepithelial projections that extended into the thickened nail plate. The tumor epithelium was identical to that of the normal nail matrix and keratinized without a granular layer.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/19. Childhood longitudinal melanonychia: case reports and review of the literature."Longitudinal melanonychia" refers to a brown or brown-black longitudinal band on a fingernail or toenail. A number of conditions can cause longitudinal melanonychia, but its main importance is that, in some patients, it may indicate the presence of a subungual malignant melanoma. Hyperpigmented nail bands are not uncommon in African-American, Latino and Asian patients, especially those over sixty years of age, and are often multiple in these groups. Longitudinal melanonychia is most worrisome when there is a solitary, dark, broad longitudinal band with pigment extending over the proximal nail fold (Hutchinson's sign). Such findings are considered to be a strong indication for biopsy of the nail matrix to rule out melanoma. Since nail matrix biopsy sometimes results in permanent nail deformity, and since the incidence of malignant melanoma is quite small in the pediatric age group, there is some controversy as to whether this procedure should routinely be performed in children. We report two cases of dramatic longitudinal melanonychia in toddlers and review the current literature on the management of this striking condition in the pediatric age group.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/19. Nail pigmentation associated with zidovudine: a review and report of a case.zidovudine has become the standard therapy for patients with AIDS and for asymptomatic hiv infected patients with low helper-T-cell levels. As experience with the drug has grown, knowledge of the range of side effects has increased. We describe progressive pigmentation of finger and toe nails in a white patient due to zidovudine therapy, a phenomenon not often described. Nail pigmentation occurs primarily in black patients. It appears to be reversible and relatively dose dependent. The mechanism responsible for the discoloration is unknown. It is important to alert patients to this side effect and to prevent unnecessary investigations and treatment for other diagnoses, such as cyanosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/19. A subungual nevus in a Filipino child.A 2.5-year-old Filipino girl with a progressively growing, black, subungual lesion is described. A biopsy was performed because of the progressive increase in size of the lesion and its periungual involvement. Histologic examination revealed a junctional nevus. To our knowledge, this represents the first report of subungual nevus in a Filipino child. The need for histologic diagnosis prior to definitive surgery cannot be overemphasized.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/19. A non-healing ulcerated fingertip following injury.A man went to his primary care physician 3 months after slamming his right thumb in a car door. The nail had turned black and sloughed off several weeks later, leaving a red, draining wound on the tip of his thumb. The wound drained continuously for the next 2 months and showed little progress in healing. His physician started him on antibiotics, but the wound still showed no progress in healing over the next 6 weeks. Cultures were obtained that grew out staphylococcus and streptococcus spp. Another course of antibiotics was given, but the patient's condition failed to improve. At this point the patient was referred to a surgeon. He missed several appointments before finally presenting to the surgery clinic nearly 6 months after his original office visit. He was diagnosed clinically as having a giant pyogenic granuloma and was given antibiotics as well as silver nitrate sticks to cauterize the wound daily. After missing several more follow-up appointments, the patient returned with a spongy, weeping soft-tissue wound over the dorsum of his right thumb [that] doubled in size over the past 3 months. Radiographs obtained at that time were normal, but a bone scan revealed late uptake, cause for concern that this was osteomyelitis. What is the differential diagnosis, and what tests are necessary?- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/19. ichthyosis follicularis in two girls: an autosomal dominant disorder.ichthyosis follicularis (IF) is a rare disorder of keratinization that has been described primarily in males and proposed as a possible X-linked disorder. We report two black girls with nonscarring alopecia; photophobia; follicular hyperkeratoses; hyperkeratosis of the extensor aspects of the hands, knees, and elbows; fixed, erythematous, perineal plaques; and angular cheilitis who seem to fit the clinical criteria for IF. One girl also had gingival hypertrophy and a hearing deficit. One child's father had identical symptoms. We propose that these girls may have a variant of IF that is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/19. Pigmented nail with atypical melanocytic hyperplasia.We report two cases showing black discoloration of the thumb nail which were histologically found to be acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) in situ. A pigmented subungual lesion is more frequently malignant than benign and it is generally believed that diagnosis of subungual melanoma during the radial-growth phase is very difficult. Our cases are particularly interesting because atypical melanocytic hyperplasia was confined to the epidermis despite the lesion being present for a long time.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/19. The spectrum of malignant melanoma of the nail apparatus.Unlike most morphological types of malignant melanoma, that of the nail apparatus is relatively rare--only 2% to 3% of one series. Although in the case of blacks and orientals, the incidence of malignant melanoma of the nail apparatus is proportionately more common. However, it is a serious disease with poor 5-year survival figures in the published series--21% to 50%. This poor prognosis may be an intrinsic function of the site and of other parts of the body, but the lateness of diagnosis in many of the published cases is of far more significance. In malignant melanoma at other body sites, late diagnosis usually relates to the patient not presenting early in the course of the disease; this may also apply to nail malignant melanoma. However, the frequency of failure of the first line physician or surgeon to recognize the clinical signs or to perform a biopsy from the correct site to obtain an accurate diagnosis is far more important.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = black (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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