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Drug-Induced Nail Disorders

Incidence, Management and Prognosis

Drug Safety volume 21, pages 187–201 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

A large number of drugs of different classes, ranging from antibacterials to chemotherapeutic agents to psoralens, can be responsible for the development of nail changes. Drug-induced nail changes usually involve several or all 20 nails and appear in temporal correlation with drug intake. Some nail changes are asymptomatic and only cause cosmetic problems, while others cause pain and discomfort and impair manual activities or deambulation. Drug-induced nail abnormalities are usually transitory and disappear with drug withdrawal, but sometimes persist in time.

The pathogenesis of the nail changes is usually a toxic effect of the drug on the different nail constituents, but other mechanisms can be involved.

Drugs that are well known to produce nail abnormalities include cancer chemotherapeutic agents, psoralens, retinoids, tetracyclines, antimalarials and zidovudine. Arsenic poisoning is also always associated with nail changes that have medico-legal importance.

Some drugs taken during pregnancy may impair nail development of the fetus, and nail hypoplasia or other nail dystrophies will be evident in the newborn.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti, 1, 40138, Bologna, Italy

    Bianca Maria Piraccini &  Antonella Tosti

Authors
  1. Bianca Maria Piraccini
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  2. Antonella Tosti
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Correspondence to Antonella Tosti.

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Piraccini, B.M., Tosti, A. Drug-Induced Nail Disorders. Drug-Safety 21, 187–201 (1999). https://doi.org/10.2165/00002018-199921030-00004

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00002018-199921030-00004

Keywords

  • Adis International Limited
  • Dermatol
  • Nail Plate
  • Pyogenic Granuloma
  • Paronychia