Yellow Nail Syndrome - a Case Report

Yellow nail syndrome is a rare disease of unknown etiology. It is clinically characterized by a triad of yellow nails, lymphedema at one or more sites, and chronic respiratory disease (bronchitis, bronchiectasis and rhinosinusitis). All nails may be affected, but some may be spared. The nail plates are yellowish green, thickened, occasionally with transverse ridging and onycholysis, with increased longitudinal and transversal over-curvature, with partial or complete separation of the nail plate from the nail bed, without lunula and cuticle and slow nail growth rate. The lymphedema is usually peripheral, affecting the lower limbs, or in the form of pleural effusion.

This is a case report of a 47-year-old female patient who presented with nail changes at the age of 40; two years later the patient developed lymphedema of the lower limbs, and a year later a chronic respiratory disease. The affected nails were yellow to yellow-gray, with thickened nail plates separated from the nail bed, ingrown in the perionychium, without lunula. At the same time, additional examinations revealed the following associated conditions: edema of talocrural joints in both legs, chronic obstructive bronchitis, bronchial asthma, chronic rhinitis with bilateral nasal polyposis, labile arterial hypertension. Apart from the management of chronic respiratory disease, oral vitamin E capsules (200 mg 3 times a day) and topical vitamin E solution were administered over 15 months. The nails began to grow, and the newly grown nails were of normal pigmentation.

In conclusion, we present a case of an adult female patient with yellow nail syndrome, and a recognized association of peripheral edema and chronic pulmonary disease. The patient had a typical clinical picture, all the nails were affected, but showed a favorable response to systemic and topical vitamin E therapy.