Dermatologic clinics
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Dermatologic clinics · Apr 2007
ReviewDrug reactions affecting the nail unit: diagnosis and management.
Several drugs may be responsible for the development of nail abnormalities, but only a few classes are consistently associated with nail symptoms. Drug-induced nail abnormalities result from toxicity to the matrix, the nail bed, the periungual tissues, or the digit blood vessels. Pharmacologic agents that most frequently produce nail abnormalities include retinoids, indinavir, and cancer chemotherapeutic agents.
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The impact that HIV/AIDS has made on modern society is unquestionable. It has ravaged societies across the globe without the discrimination. ⋯ Like all catastrophes, the havoc wreaked by HIV/AIDS most impacts people living in the poorest nations of the world. This article deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Although many nail disorders have been associated with drug intake, most reports are anecdotal. Most nail changes caused by drugs are the outcome of acute toxicity to the nail epithelia; nail symptoms depend on which nail structure is damaged. ⋯ Drug-induced nail abnormalities are usually transitory and disappear with drug withdrawal, but sometimes persist over time. This article reviews drugs that have been consistently associated with nail abnormalities.
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Nail pigmentation is defined by the presence of melanin in the nail plate. It most frequently has the appearance of a longitudinal pigmented band, called longitudinal mel-anonychia (LM). ⋯ The aim of this article is to help distinguish those types of melanonychia that are worrisome and should lead to biopsy from those that are reasonably reassuring and need only be followed clinically. Histology, differential diagnosis, and biopsy techniques also are considered.
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Although abnormalities of the nails have been reported in different systemic disorders,most of these abnormalities are nonspecific. This article reports and discusses only those nail signs that provide the clinician with clues for the diagnosis of systemic disorders.