Short-Term Correlation of the Psoriasis Area Severity Index, the Nail Psoriasis Area Severity Index, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index, before and after Treatment, in Patients with Skin and Nail Psoriasis.

BACKGROUND: The response to treatment in patients suffering from skin and nail psoriasis is quantitatively evaluated by monitoring clinical severity and quality of life indexes, especially in the context of clinical trials. Among them, the psoriasis area severity index (PASI), the nail psoriasis area severity index (NAPSI), and the dermatology life quality index (DLQI) are currently the most widely used indexes. OBJECTIVE: To study the short-term correlation between PASI, NAPSI, and DLQI in patients with skin and nail psoriasis at baseline and 3 months after treatment initiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a 2-center prospective, observational, cross-sectional study of 40 treatment-naive patients suffering from chronic plaque psoriasis with nail involvement and requiring systemic therapy. Disease activity and quality of life were assessed at baseline and 3 months after treatment initiation by measuring PASI, NAPSI, and DLQI scores. Statistical correlations between theses indexes were investigated using the appropriate statistical tests. RESULTS: A positive, strong correlation was observed between DLQI and NAPSI at baseline (r = 0.579, p <0.001) and at 3 months (r = 0.484, p = 0.002). Similarly, a strong correlation was noted between DLQI and PASI at baseline (r = 0.496, p = 0.001) and at 3 months (r = 0.401, p = 0.01). Moreover, we observed a positive strong correlation (r = 0.515, p = 0.001) between DLQI at baseline and NAPSI at 3 months and a moderate correlation (r = 0.433, p = 0.005) between DLQI at baseline and PASI at 3 months. CONCLUSION: The observed positive correlations between PASI, NAPSI, and DLQI provide further evidence in support of their simultaneous utilization in clinical studies for skin and nail psoriasis. Moreover, the predictive value of DLQI at baseline emphasizes the importance of quality of life assessment when designing a therapeutic study as well as in the everyday clinical practice.

Giant Onychomatricoma of the Great Toenail: Case Report and Review Focusing on Less Common Variants.

Onychomatricoma is a rare benign fibroepithelial filamentous tumor originating from the nail matrix. It typically presents with the clinical tetrad of xanthonychia, pachyonychia, proximal splinter hemorrhages and increased transverse overcurvature of the nail plate. The giant variant can easily confuse the clinician due to its extensive nail dystrophy that can mask the characteristic features of this tumor. Benign (fibrokeratoma, ungual fibroma, onycholytic matricoma) and malignant entities (Bowen's disease, squamous cell carcinoma, onycholytic carcinoma) are mimics of the disease. Nail surgery can facilitate the diagnosis, which should always be confirmed by histology, as rare variants do exist.

Risk factors, clinical variants and therapeutic outcome of retronychia: a retrospective study of 18 patients.

Retronychia is a form of post-traumatic ingrowing nail disease that involves proximal nail plate embedding into the proximal nail fold, with multiple generations of nail plate beneath the proximal nail. This disease is probably underdiagnosed because of incomplete clinical forms. The aim of this study was to report clinical and aetiological variants of retronychia and to evaluate their therapeutic outcome. A retrospective review was performed on 18 patients who were seen in our institution between 2007 and 2013. The diagnostic criteria for retronychia were paronychia and interruption of nail growth. A female predominance (83.3%) was reported. Various precipitating factors were found, including traumatisms in 10 patients (55%), pregnancy and postpartum period in two patients (11%), and compartment syndrome in one patient (5%). The mean duration of paronychia was eight months (15 days to four years). The fingers most affected were the great toes. Retronychia occurred bilaterally in five cases (27%) and unilaterally in one case (61%). The commonest signs were, in decreasing order, xanthonychia (yellow discolouration of nail plate), longitudinal nail over-curvature, swelling of proximal nail fold, elevation of the proximal nail plate, granulation tissue, subungual hyperkeratosis, superficial leuconychia, distal onycholysis, subungueal haemorrhage, and Beau's lines. Most of the cases improved after proximal nail plate avulsion. Recurrence occurred in three cases (16.6%). In our opinion, ischaemic damage is the main cause of retronychia. Evaluation of clinical variants is mandatory to propose appropriate treatment. The limitations of this study include the retrospective design.

Nail Psoriasis in Children: Common or Uncommon? Results from a 10-Year Double-Center Study.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Our aim was to perform an extensive search of the literature on the prevalence of nail psoriasis in the pediatric population and to estimate it on our own database. PROCEDURES: Searching the most important databases yielded results of 16 papers published in a 40-year period which reported the prevalence of nail psoriasis in children. Furthermore, data gathered between 2004 and 2013 at two centers specialized in nail disorders were analyzed. RESULTS: The selected papers encompassed a total of 4,853 psoriatic children, of whom 762 (15.7%) had nail involvement. Concerning our data, a total of 68,839 children were seen in pediatric skin consultation in both clinics over a period of 10 years, 0.11% of which had nail involvement. The rate of psoriatic children presenting nail alterations was 19.4% in the Greek and 15.5% in the Italian patient groups. CONCLUSIONS AND MESSAGE: This is the retrospective study including the largest number of cases of nail psoriasis in the pediatric population. Our data are in line with the incidence estimation of the rest of Europe.