Association between Morphological Changes of Nail and Nail Arsenic Level in Patients with Arsenicosis.

ABSTRACT

This case-control type of analytical study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh to find out the association between morphological changes of nail and nail arsenic level in arsenicosis patients. Majority of arsenicosis patients were male (56.67%). The mean age of the cases was 43.07+/-13.73 years. Nail changes were found in 26.67% of cases, most were nail dystrophy (23.33%) and rest were Mee's line (3.34%). There was significant difference between cases with or without nail changes and nail arsenic level. But cases with or with out nail changes had a significant difference between duration of intake of arsenic contaminated water. There was no correlation between nail changes and nail arsenic level for nail dystrophy and Mee's line. The study result failed to establish association between the morphological changes of nail and nail arsenic level.