Patterns of chromonychia during chemotherapy in patients with skin type V and outcome after 1 year of follow-up.

The study was carried out on 17 patients (16 female, 1 male) who presented with nail pigmentation after chemotherapy. Ten patients who were given cyclophosphamide had diffuse black pigmentation, slate-grey to black longitudinal streaks, or diffuse dark-grey pigmentation located proximally with overlying black transverse bands. The pigmentation appearing after hydroxyurea was located more distally, was brownish-black in colour and diffuse, or appeared in single or double transverse bands. Diffuse pigmentation of the skin, patchy macular pigmentation of the gum margins, and the tip and lateral margins of the tongue were also seen. In patients on carboplatin treatment, brown pigmentation in bands 2-4 mm wide was seen, located distally on the fingernails. Black longitudinal bands on a background of diffuse brown pigmentation were noted after docetaxel treatment. Chemotherapy-induced nail pigmentation in patients skin type V is not an uncommon event, which is probably underestimated and under-reported.