Open AccessIsolated Nail Dystrophy: An Unlikely Presentation of Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
Author(s) -
Sarah F. McClees,
James Robert Duncan,
Roger I. Ceilley,
Tiffani L. Milless,
Boni E. Elewski
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
skin appendage disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.773
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 2296-9195
pISSN - 2296-9160
DOI - 10.1159/000495121
Subject(s) - medicine , malignancy , renal cell carcinoma , metastasis , nail (fastener) , differential diagnosis , cancer , presentation (obstetrics) , lesion , metastatic lesion , pathology , clear cell renal cell carcinoma , dermatology , radiology , materials science , metallurgy
Metastasis of any malignancy to the nail unit is uncommon, and only a handful of cases of subungual renal cell carcinoma (RCC) metastasis have been reported. We describe a case of isolated nail dystrophy that proved to be the presenting symptom of a previously undetected RCC. In a patient presenting with a subungual lesion, tumor metastasis to the nail unit should be included in the clinical differential diagnosis in both oncology patients and previously cancer-free individuals, as a subungual metastasis may be the first indication of a clinically silent visceral malignancy.