[Nail involvement in leprosy]

Dermoscopic features of nails in Leprosy patients in a tertiary referral hospital in West Java, Indonesia

INTRODUCTION

Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease, mainly affecting the skin and peripheral nerves, caused by the obligate intracellular bacteria Mycobacterium leprae. The disease has been discussed in several review articles in recent research, but as far as we know, only a few have addressed the effects of leprosy on nails, especially those who examine the dermoscopic features of nails in leprosy patients.

PURPOSES

We aimed to document nail changes in leprosy patients and identify any particular findings through dermoscopic examination.

METHOD

This was an observational study conducted in the Dermatology and Venereology Clinic of Hasan Sadikin Hospital, West Java, Indonesia, from March 2023 through May 2023. All patients have established cases of leprosy, and the diagnosis is based on clinical and bacteriological examinations. Recruitment was done through total sampling. Dermoscopic examination of all fingernails and toenails was performed at 10x magnification using a handheld dermatoscope (Heine DELTA 20 T Dermatoscope) in polarized mode without the linkage fluid to document the dermoscopic features.

RESULT

Of a total of 19 patients, 15 had nail changes due to leprosy. Out of 15 patients, 13 patients were male. Patients below 25 years old had more nail changes. Most of the patients had a duration of disease greater than two years. Both fingers and toes were involved in nine patients. In this study, the most common dermoscopic feature found was the longitudinal ridge. Other dermoscopic features found in this study were transverse lines, onycholysis, longitudinal melanonychia, leukonychia, subungual hemorrhage, subungual hyperkeratosis, anonychia, and onychorrexis.

CONCLUSION

Nail changes are found in leprosy patients and have a wide variety of clinical appearances. A dermoscopy should be performed to assess nail changes in leprosy.

Leukonychia: What Can White Nails Tell Us?

Changes in nail color can provide important clues of underlying systemic and skin disease. In particular, white discoloration (leukonychia) has a high prevalence with a wide array of potential relevant causes, from simple manicure habits to life-threatening liver or kidney failure. Therefore, a reliable assessment of the patient with leukonychia is essential. In the past, two classifications for leukonychia have been presented. The morphological classifies the nail according to the distribution of the white lines: total, partial, transversal, and longitudinal leukonychia. Mees’ and Muehrcke’s lines are examples of transversal leukonychia, while Terry’s and Lindsay’s nails are examples of total and partial leukonychia. The anatomical classifies according to the structure responsible for the white color: the nail plate in true leukonychia, the nail bed in apparent leukonychia, and the surface only in pseudoleukonychia. In this review, both morphological and anatomical features have been combined in an algorithm that enables clinicians to approach leukonychia efficiently and effectively.

Onychomycosis caused by Arthrinium arundinis in leprosy patient: Case report

We report a case of a 56-year-old Brazilian woman, with relapsing lepromatous leprosy, and onychomycosis caused by a non-dermatophyte filamentous fungi. The pathogenic fungi was identified as Arthrinium arundinis and treated with chemical abrasion of the nail with 40% urea and application of terbinafine cream. Onychomycosis caused by Arthrinium species is rare, and this is the second reported case.

Nail Changes in Leprosy: An Observational Study of 125 Patients

Introduction

Leprosy is a disease primarily affecting skin and nerve. Nail involvement, although indirect, is observed in several patients. This is a study to determine the pattern of nail changes in leprosy.

Methods

It was an observational study involving 125 patients. Apart from cutaneous and neurological examination, nails were examined. Diagnosis was confirmed by previous records in already diagnosed cases, while by slit skin smear and histopathologically in new cases. Patients were grouped as per Ridley-Jopling classification and further subdivided as per age, sex, and duration and reaction status. Nail changes in these groups were summarized and compared.

Results

Overall prevalence of nail changes was 80% with 66.6% in TT patients, 79.4% in BT patients 50% in BB patients, 83.7% in BL patients and 84.3% in LL patients. Longitudinal melanonychia and longitudinal ridges were frequent finger nail changes with longitudinal melanonychia being more common among tuberculoid pole and longitudinal ridges among lepromatous pole. Brachyonychia, subungual hyperkeratosis and brown black pigmentation were frequent finger nail changes, with onychorrhexis being commonest among TT patients, subungual hyperkeratosis among BT patients, while brachyonychia among BL and LL patients. Anonychia and rudimentary nails were not found in tuberculoid pole. Beau's lines, terry nails, pterygium, pincer nail, and onychorrhexis were significantly more frequent in ENL patients. Onychomadesis, which is not reported yet in leprosy, was found in one patient after severe ENL.

Conclusion

Various changes in leprosy are due to multiple causes like neuropathic, traumatic, vascular, osseous, infections and drugs reflecting extensive systemic morbidity caused by Mycobacterium leprae.