Ectopic Foot Nails: Clinical and Dermoscopic Features, Treatment and Outcome in 20 Cases.

BACKGROUND

Ectopic nail (EN) is an extremely rare condition in which the small nail apparatus grows outside the normal nail unit of the hand and fingertips. Limited data can be found in the literature regarding ectopic nails of the foot and toes (EFN).

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed at characterizing the clinical, therapeutic and dermoscopic EFN by a comparison with and differentiation from EN observed on the hands.

METHODS

Data on EFN collected during 2004-2014 were analysed. A literature search was performed to evaluate articles for review points on the topic.

RESULTS

Characteristics of shape, development, ultrasound aspects, dermoscopy and the response to treatment of 22 EFN were reported. Results from our study were compared with cases reported in the literature.

CONCLUSION

In this article, new aspects on EFN from the clinical-morphological and dermoscopic points of view are reported; these may facilitate the diagnosis of an anomaly even without a histological examination.