Nail disorders in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis.
BACKGROUND
Chronic renal failure affects almost all the systems of the body, including the skin and appendages. The nail disorders most commonly found in patients with chronic renal failure are half and half nails, absent lunula and splinter hemorrhages.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the spectrum and the frequency of nail disorders in patients with chronic renal failure submitted to hemodialysis and compare them with a paired sample from the general population.


METHODS
A case-controlled study paired for gender and age was conducted in which nail disorders were investigated in the two groups.


RESULTS
At least one nail disorder was found in 86% of the hemodialysis patients and in 75% of subjects in the control group. Absent lunula (62.9%) and half and half nails (14.4%) were more common in the hemodialysis group compared to the control group and this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Longitudinal striae were more common in the control group compared to the hemodialysis group (24.1%).


CONCLUSIONS
Absent lunula and half and half nails were the most common nail disorders found in patients on hemodialysis, corroborating the findings of previous studies. Longitudinal striae were more common in the control group and future studies may clarify whether structural abnormalities such as absent lunula may be related to this finding.
Martinez
Marcos Antonio Rodrigues
MA
Department of Dermatology, ABC School of Medicine, Santo Andre, SP, Brazil.
Gregório
Carla Lobato
CL
Santos
Vanessa Pedrassi dos
VP
Bérgamo
Ronaldo Roberto
RR
Machado Filho
Carlos D'Apparecida Santos
CD
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009260:Nail Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006435:Renal Dialysis