Journal Club: Longitudinal melanonychia in children: keep calm, wait and see
- By Sophia Mohme,
- Neda Alband,
- Angel Rosell Diaz,
- Marine-Alexia Lefevre,
- Jorge Enrique Rodríguez Rodríguez,
- Miguel Nogueira,
- Matthias Goebeler
- and Henning Hamm
Pages 60 to 62
Cite this article
- MOHME, Sophia,
- ALBAND, Neda,
- DIAZ, Angel Rosell,
- LEFEVRE, Marine-Alexia,
- ENRIQUE RODRÍGUEZ RODRÍGUEZ, Jorge,
- NOGUEIRA, Miguel,
- GOEBELER, Matthias
- and HAMM, Henning,
- Mohme, Sophia.,
- et al.
- Mohme, S.,
- Alband, N.,
- Diaz, A.-R.,
- Lefevre, M.-A.,
- Enrique Rodríguez Rodríguez, J.,
- Nogueira, M.,
- Goebeler, M.
- and Hamm, H.
https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2023.4444
Cite this article
- Mohme, S.,
- Alband, N.,
- Diaz, A.-R.,
- Lefevre, M.-A.,
- Enrique Rodríguez Rodríguez, J.,
- Nogueira, M.,
- Goebeler, M.
- and Hamm, H.
- Mohme, Sophia.,
- et al.
- MOHME, Sophia,
- ALBAND, Neda,
- DIAZ, Angel Rosell,
- LEFEVRE, Marine-Alexia,
- ENRIQUE RODRÍGUEZ RODRÍGUEZ, Jorge,
- NOGUEIRA, Miguel,
- GOEBELER, Matthias
- and HAMM, Henning,
https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2023.4444
Longitudinal melanonychia (LM) or melanonychia striata is the term used to describe a band- or stripe-shaped dark discolouration alongside the nail plate. While frequent and often occurring at multiple sites in Africans and Asians, most of the lesions in Caucasians are solitary and involve a fingernail in more than two-thirds of cases. The pigmentation is the result of locally increased melanin production in the nail matrix released to the corneocytes of the nail plate (figure 1). Causes include activation of physiologically inactive melanocytes or melanocytic hyperplasia due to a lentigo, a melanocytic nevus or a melanoma. The discolouration can be very heterogeneous in terms of width and colour [1].
In adults, LM is the most frequent presentation of ungual melanoma, accounting for 0.7-3.5% of all melanomas in Caucasians. Clinical signs include new onset of pigmentation, irregular and multiple bands of colour, blurred edges of the pigmented band, triangular shape of the discolouration with increased width of the proximal part, onychodystrophy, and the Hutchinson sign (pigmentation extending onto the proximal and lateral nail folds) [1,2]. These features that are indicative of ungual melanoma in adults are not uncommon in
children and adolescents, thus raising concern for
parents, paediatricians and dermatologists. However, definitive diagnosis requires a nail matrix biopsy; an intricate surgical procedure in this age group associated with a risk of permanent nail dystrophy [2]…
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