Author(s): Mohammadreza Ghasemi, Gholamhosein Ghafarpour, Elham Behrang, GelareGhafarpour, Zahra Azizian
Background: Various skin diseases such as psoriasis, lichen planus, and alopecia areatacan be associated with structural nail lesions. However, nail lesions prevalence in patients with severe acne vulgaris is not determined. This study aimed to determine the frequency and types of nail lesions in patients with severe acne vulgaris.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 235 patients with severe acne vulgaris were included from the clinic of dermatology of Rasoul-e-akram Hospital during the 2010-2011. The patients had no history of treatment for acne vulgaris. Patients initially underwent clinical examination, and severity of acne was determined among them. Demographic characteristics such as sex, age, and blood type, and nail disorders including brittleness, onycholysis, and leukonychia were investigated in these patients. Data were analyzedusing SPSS 18 software.Results: In this study,79 (33.6%) patients with severe acne vulgaris had nail involvement and the frequency of nail lesions in this study were as follow: brittle nails 26.8% (63 cases); leukonychia 18.2% (43 cases); parrot-beaked nails 3.4% (8 cases) and onycholysis 1.3% (3 cases). Nail disorders in patients with severe acne vulgaris were not associated with sex, blood group, and the severity and distribution of acne lesions. However, the lower age of the patients was associated with the incidence of nail disorders.Conclusion: According to the high prevalence of nail involvement, especially brittle nails in patients with severe acne vulgaris, investigation and treatment of nail disorders in these patients have a great importance.