title: A case of the yellow nail syndrome associated with massive chylous ascites, pleural and pericardial effusions.
abstract: A 26-year-old male patient with a history of chronic peripheral lymphedema, yellowish coloured slow growing nails and pleural effusions since early childhood is described. After 23 years he developed a chylous ascites and scintigraphy with technetium-99m labeled albumin clearly demonstrated a diffuse protein loss involving the whole jejunum and ileum. Subsequent jejunal and duodenal biopsies showed the typical histological findings of intestinal lymphangiectasia thereby confirming a diffuse intestinal lymphatic damage. In addition to the gastrointestional symptoms the patient developed a pericardial effusion diagnosed by echocardiographic imaging. Dietary treatment with middle chained triglycerides and intravenous human albumin supplementation was followed by the reduction of the ascites and improvement of the peripheral lymphedema. To our knowledge this is the first description of the yellow nail syndrome associated with a diffuse lymphangiectasia involving the whole small bowel.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Malek
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ocran
authors.forename: U J
authors.initials: UJ
authors.lastname: Tietge
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maschek
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Gratz
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trautwein
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Manns
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D002915:Chylous Ascites / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004386:Duodenum / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007583:Jejunum / Q000473:pathology; D008201:Lymphangiectasis, Intestinal / Q000150:complications* / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009260:Nail Diseases / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D010859:Pigmentation Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin; D014280:Triglycerides