|
| Fig. 38.1 Cutaneous findings. A, Tense vesicle on the dorsal hand of a patient undergoing renal dialysis. B, Half-and-half nails in a patient with chronic renal failure. |
Both half-and-half nails and Muehrcke’s nails are associated with chronic renal failure. In half-and-half nails, the proximal half of the nail is white, and the distal portion retains the normal pink color (Fig. 38-1B). This is believed to be due to edema of the nail bed. Muehrcke’s nails are associated with hypoalbuminemia and have two transverse parallel white bands, separated from each other and from the lunula by areas of normal pink nail.
Muehrcke RC: The fingernails in chronic hypoalbuminaemia: a new physical sign,
BMJ 9:1327–1328, 1956.
