This Article  • References  • 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  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

John R. Person, MD
The Fallon Clinic Inc 630 Plantation St Worcester, MA 01605

Arch Dermatol. 1984;120(4):437-438.

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

To the Editor.—

Twenty-nail dystrophy is one of the great scientific riddles of our time. It was described by Samman¹ and more recently reemphasized by Hazelrigg.² It consists of longitudinal ridging, loss of luster, thinning, and distal splitting of all nails. It is most common, but not unique, to childhood and is usually self-limited. Scher et al,³ based on the results of one confirmatory biopsy, concluded that 20-nail dystrophy represented a variant of lichen planus. Wilkinson et al⁴ also took a biopsy specimen from one patient but found only spongiosis and nonspecific inflammation. Based on their findings, these authors concluded that 20-nail dystrophy was unrelated to lichen planus. Horn and Odom⁵ described a case persisting years after the resolution of alopecia areata, and they hypothesized that it is a rather nonspecific onychodystrophy of many possible etiologies, including psoriasis.

Lichen planus and alopecia areata are both . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?