This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Nail Diseases  • Diagnosis  • Alert me on articles by topic

Arch Dermatol. 2003;139:1209-1214.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Diagnosis: Common blue nevus of the nail matrix.

MICROSCOPIC FINDINGS AND CLINICAL COURSE

Histologic sections showed a normal-appearing nail plate and matrix, with rare normal-appearing basal layer melanocytes. The deep papillary and superficial reticular dermis contained a well-circumscribed collection of spindled cells containing copious amounts of coarse melanin granules. Intracytoplasmic melanin obscured the nuclei of the spindled cells. Melanin was also noted outside the cells, lying freely in the dermis and within the cytoplasm of epithelioid cells. Pigment incontinence was present in the dermis in close apposition to the epithelium; however, junctional melanocytic foci or increased basal layer melanocytes were not observed. The sections were subjected to a bleaching reagent, revealing vesicular nuclei with prominent nucleoli within the spindled cells and vesicular nuclei with inconspicuous nucleoli in the epithelioid cells. Special stains were negative for iron (Prussian blue) and positive for melanin (Fontana-Masson). Immunostaining performed with adequate controls revealed a population of spindled cells that were weakly positive for S100 protein and strongly . . . [Full Text of this Article]

DISCUSSION

RELATED ARTICLE

Longitudinal Melanonychia—Quiz Case
Daniel F. Smith, Michael B. Morgan, and Miriam S. Bettencourt
Arch Dermatol. 2003;139(9):1209-1214.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT