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Etretinate and the nail (study of 130 cases): possible mechanisms of its side‐effects
Author(s) -
Baran Robert
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1985.tb12964.x
Subject(s) - onycholysis , etretinate , paronychia , dermatology , nail (fastener) , medicine , psoriasis , nail disease , materials science , metallurgy
In most disorders of the nail in which the aromatic retinoid etretinate has been used, the results have been generally disappointing. The exception is its success in acropustulosis. In other dermatological conditions, the same therapeutic regime may induce a variety of unwanted effects on the nail apparatus, including chronic paronychia, onycholysis, onychomadesis, nail shedding, onychoschizia, fragility and periungual granulation tissue. Many of these changes resemble those found in psoriasis, particularly psoriatic paronychia. In this presentation, parallels will be drawn between psoriatic pathology and retinoid desquamative dermatitis which resembles it in producing similar discharge from beneath the proximal nail fold. This may be the basis for the nail signs induced by etretinate.