CASE REPORT
A 32-year-old woman presented with pain, discomfort, and bleeding when she clipped her nails. She had no other symptoms or skin lesions. The condition had been present for 4 years, and she had refused any treatment previously. On examination, a forward extension of the hyponychium
was adherent to the ventral aspect of the nail plate. The condition involved all nails on both hands and spared the toenails (Figure 1). There was no relevant family history.
A treatment recently used for psoriatic nail dystrophy1 was initiated with once-daily application of a water-soluble nail lacquer containing hydroxypropyl chitosan, horsetail extract (Equisetum arvense), and methylsulfonylmethane. After 2 months of the daily treatment, examination revealed considerable
improvement in the nail changes (Figure 2). After 4 months of treatment, there was an overall improvement in the condition, but with some persistence of the lesion on the third fingernail.
DISCUSSION
Pterygium inversum unguis (PIU) is a disorder consisting of a forward extension of the hyponychium (a subungual structure distal to the nail bed) anchoring to the undersurface of the nail plate and thus obliterating the distal nail groove. It may affect a single finger or multiple fingers, as shown in this case. PIU may be congenital and/or familial, or acquired.
PIU was first described in 1973 by Caputo and Prandi,2 in a female patient who presented with ventral pterygium in multiple fingers of the hands, with no apparent cause, similar to the case described in our paper. Since then, some cases have been described as related to systemic diseases, principally
including collagen diseases,3,4 allergic dermatitis,5,6 neurofibromatosis, hemiparesis (due to stroke),7 subungual exostosis,8 and leprosy.9 A congenital type was first described by Odom et al.10 The causes of PIU (ventral pterygium) are summarized in Table 1. 2,4-6,8-9,11-18
Women are more frequently affected than men, with ages ranging
between 20 and 70 years. The most common complaints are pain and bleeding occurring on clipping the nails.19 In about 50% of cases there is a history of associated collagen disease. In addition, in some cases, there is a family history of the condition.
12,13,16,18,20,21 Sometimes the condition is idiopathic.14
Hand nails are more often affected than foot nails with a predominance
of spontaneous cases. Because of its rarity, the appropriate mechanism of origin is speculative,7,19 but blood alterations and ischemia are the most acceptable hypotheses.7 A similar mechanism has been considered in patients with leprosy.9 Peripheral vascular and sensorineural alterations were suggested as genesis of morbidity in a case report associated
with stroke.7
On physical examination of these patients, it is possible to verify that there is a thick layer of keratin between the hyponychium and the ventral face of the nail plate.14 This is histologically corroborated
with an intense hyperkeratosis tightly fixed to the nail
