melanonychia nail - Health Topics
Despite a high frequency of atypical features, longitudinal melanonychia (LM) in children is associated with an exceedingly low rate of malignancy. LM — a pigmented band in the nail plate caused by ... Melanonychia can also be associated with genetic disorders, injury, medications, nutritional deficiency, endocrine disease, connective tissue disease, inflammatory skin disease, a local tumour, or nail infection.
Understanding the Context
What causes melanonychia? The nail plate is a hard, translucent structure made of keratin. It is not normally pigmented. Melanoma of the nail unit arises in people of all skin colour and race.
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Key Insights
It is important to note that while longitudinal melanonychia only occurs in around 1% of white-skinned individuals, it is very common in dark-skinned races, occurring in an estimated 100% of African-Americans by the age of 50 and around 20% of Asians. Longitudinal melanonychia is due to activation of melanocytes in the nail matrix. It is more common in darker skinned individuals and may affect one or several nails. The band may occasionally extend across the entire nail (total melanonychia). Transverse melanonychia is rare.
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There are various causes of longitudinal melanonychia. Melanonychia Melanoma of nail unit Melanoma of nail unit images Mucous/myxoid cyst Myxoid cyst images Nail biting Nail cosmetics allergy Nail terminology Nail matrix biopsy Nail psoriasis Onychocryptosis (ingrown nails) Onycholysis Onychomatricoma Onychopapilloma Onychophagia Parakeratosis pustulosa Psoriatic nail disease Shrimp nail Subungual ... What is melanonychia? Melanonychia is brown or black discolouration of a nail. It may be diffuse or take the form of a longitudinal band. Read more IFLScience: What Can Nail Changes Say About Our Health?
Here's What To Know What Can Nail Changes Say About Our Health? Here's What To Know