Muehrcke's nails

Muehrcke's lines
Other namesApparent leukonychia striata

Muehrcke's nails or Muehrcke's lines (apparent leukonychia striata) are changes in the fingernail that may be a sign of an underlying medical condition. The term refers to a set of one or more pale transverse bands extending all the way across the nail, parallel to the lunula. In contrast to Beau's lines, they are not grooved (no 3-dimensional deformity), and in contrast to Mees' lines, the thumb is usually not involved.[1][2]

Muehrcke's lines are a strong indicator of hypoalbuminemia, which can result from a variety of different causes.[3][4]

The lines are actually in the vascular bed underneath the nail plate. As such, they do not move with nail growth, and disappear when pressure is applied to the nail (blanching the underlying nail bed): this distinguishes them from "true leukonychia striata" such as Mees' lines.[1] As in Terry's and half-and-half nails, the pattern is thought to be formed by bands of localized edema exerting pressure on the surrounding capillaries.[3][5]

  1. ^ a b Rapini, Ronald P.; Bolognia, Jean L.; Jorizzo, Joseph L. (2007). Dermatology: 2-Volume Set. St. Louis: Mosby. ISBN 978-1-4160-2999-1.
  2. ^ Zaiac, Martin N.; Walker, Ashley (September 2013). "Nail abnormalities associated with systemic pathologies". Clinics in Dermatology. 31 (5): 627–649. doi:10.1016/j.clindermatol.2013.06.018. ISSN 1879-1131. PMID 24079592.
  3. ^ a b Singal, Archana; Arora, Rahul (2015). "Nail as a window of systemic diseases". Indian Dermatology Online Journal. 6 (2): 67–74. doi:10.4103/2229-5178.153002. ISSN 2229-5178. PMC 4375768. PMID 25821724.
  4. ^ MUEHRCKE RC (June 1956). "The finger-nails in chronic hypoalbuminaemia; a new physical sign". Br Med J. 1 (4979): 1327–8. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.4979.1327. PMC 1980060. PMID 13316143.
  5. ^ Hinds, Ginette; Thomas, Valencia D. (January 2008). "Malignancy and cancer treatment-related hair and nail changes". Dermatologic Clinics. 26 (1): 59–68, viii. doi:10.1016/j.det.2007.08.003. ISSN 0733-8635. PMID 18023771.