What are the characteristics of Muehrcke's lines?
Muehrcke's lines usually affect several nails at a time. There are usually no lines on the thumbnails. Some characteristics of Muehrcke's lines are: White bands go across the entire nail from side to side. Lines are usually most clearly seen on the second, third, and fourth fingers. The nail bed looks healthy in between the lines.
What are Muehrcke's nails?
Muehrcke's nails. Muehrcke's nails or Muehrcke's lines ( apparent leukonychia striata) are changes in the fingernail that may be a sign of an underlying medical condition. The term refers to a set of one or more pale transverse bands extending all the way across the nail, parallel to the lunula.
When was Muehrcke's disease first described?
He first described the condition in the British Medical Journal in 1956. Muehrcke's lines usually affect several nails at a time. There are usually no lines on the thumbnails.
What causes Muehrcke lines on nails?
Muehrcke lines are a form of transverse apparent leukonychia due to variable blood flow under the nail; pressure on the nail plate makes them disappear. Vitiligo or leukoderma (white skin) can also cause apparent partial or longitudinal leukonychia. Who gets a white nail? White nails can affect anyone: males and females of any age or ethnicity.
Is Muehrcke's lines serious?
Muehrcke's lines are a strong indicator of hypoalbuminemia, which can result from a variety of different causes. The lines are actually in the vascular bed underneath the nail plate.
What do Mees lines indicate?
Mees' lines are white lines or bands that appear on the fingernails or toenails. They can be a symptom of a serious underlying health condition, such as arsenic poisoning or kidney failure. Mees' lines may be confused with injury to the nail or Muehrcke lines.
What does white lines in your fingernails mean?
White spots or streaks are normal and nothing to worry about. Parallel white lines that extend all the way across the nails, known as Muehrcke's lines, are a sign of low levels of protein in the blood. In contrast to Beau's lines, they're not grooved. They can occur as a result of liver disease or malnutrition.
What deficiency causes white lines on nails?
You may notice white spots or dots along your nails if you're deficient in certain minerals or vitamins. The deficiencies most commonly linked to this issue are zinc deficiency and calcium deficiency.
What vitamin deficiency causes lines in nails?
Our nails naturally develop slight vertical ridges as we age. However, severe and raised ridges can be a sign of iron deficiency anemia. Nutritional deficiencies, such as a lack of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin B12 or keratin can result in fingernail ridges. Hormonal changes can also cause ridges to appear.
Can stress cause Mees lines?
Just as your hair might fall out after an illness or a prolonged period of stress, your nails can also exhibit symptoms. Most frequently, stress will cause side-to-side lines to appear on your nails.
What does Beau's lines look like?
What do Beau's lines look like? Beau's lines are horizontal indentations, or ridges, that develop across the nails. They usually run straight across the nail. A person may develop one or more Beau's lines on any nail, or across multiple nails.
How do I get rid of the white lines on my nails?
To remove white spots caused by prolonged nail polish wear, Dr. Stern recommends gently buffing the nail surface and treating the nail with a hydrating oil or Vaseline. "A nail polish break for several weeks will also help treat keratin granulations," she says.
What are Beau lines?
Beau's lines are indentations that run across the nails. The indentations can appear when growth at the area under the cuticle is interrupted by injury or severe illness.
What do your nails look like with anemia?
Spoon nails (koilonychia) are soft nails that look scooped out. The depression usually is large enough to hold a drop of liquid. Often, spoon nails are a sign of iron deficiency anemia or a liver condition known as hemochromatosis, in which your body absorbs too much iron from the food you eat.
Can vitamin D deficiency causes white spots on nails?
Contrary to popular opinion, white marks on the nails is rarely the sign of a vitamin or mineral deficiency and you don't need to drink more milk. The most common cause of white spots is actually damage to the nail bed.
Can thyroid problems cause ridges in nails?
Horizontal ridges can be caused by trauma to the nail and may be deep or discolored. The can also indicate malnutrition, psoriasis or a thyroid problem. Check with your doctor if you see horizontal ridges on your nails; they may indicate a more serious problem. Need to make an appointment with a Piedmont physician?
What illness causes Beau's lines?
Chronic conditions that interfere with blood flow to your nail matrix can cause Beau's lines, including: Diabetes. Hypothyroidism. Peripheral artery disease (PAD).
What causes Muehrcke lines?
Nephrotic syndrome, glomerulonephritis, liver diseases, and malnutrition are the most common, with nephrotic syndrome being the most common cause reported by Muehrcke. Other cases include periods of high metabolic stress (e.g., systemic inflections, AIDS). Trauma may also cause Muehrcke's nails.
What does Beau's lines look like?
Beau's lines are horizontal (transverse) depressions in the nail plate that run parallel to the shape of the white, moon-shaped portion of the nail bed (lunula) seen at the nail's origin. They result from a sudden interruption of nail keratin synthesis and grow distally with the nail plate.
What causes deep ridges in your fingernails?
Vertical nail ridges are fairly common and nothing to worry about. Vertical nail ridges extend from the cuticle to the tip of the nail. With age, vertical nail ridges may become more numerous or prominent because of changes in cell turnover within the nail.
What Are Muehrcke’s Lines?
Muehrcke’s lines of the fingernails are actually a variant of leukonychia striata. The lines are visible to the eyes being parallel to the lunula and horizontal to the nail plate and the lines go right across the nail.
How to tell if Muehrcke's line is severe?
But, thumbnails also bear the symptoms when the case is severe. One can easily identify Muehrcke’s lines by checking the following checklist. White horizontal lines will travel across the nail plates. The lines are constant and nail growth will have no effect on them. Second, third and fourth fingers are the first nails to get attacked by ...
Why do Muejrcke's lines exist?
Rober Muehrcke first diagnosed this disorder in some patients who had a sickness where the blood levels of the protein albumin weren’t up to the mark. There lies the main reason behind these lines. The abnormality of albumin is responsible for these lines. Albumin is related to blood and made in the liver. So, Muehrcke’s lines are somehow connected with blood and liver. There are some other reasons which are as follows.
What is it called when you have a line in your fingernail?
These lines are also called leukonychia in medical term. This abnormal condition of the fingernails was first described by a physician named Robert Muehrcke in the British Medical Journal in 1956.
Why are Muehrcke's lines connected to blood?
There are some other reasons which are as follows. Liver diseases such as cirrhosis. Kidney diseases such as nephrotic syndrome. Chemotherapy which is taken for cancer. Lack of proper nutrients in the body.
Which finger was the first to get attacked by Muehrcke's lines?
Second, third and fourth fingers are the first nails to get attacked by Muehrcke’s lines.
Is Muehrcke's disease a wise thing to do?
Nails are an important part of our body but we often neglect Muehrcke’s lines disease taking it lightly. It’s not a wise thing to do because nail diseases may be the symptoms of something severe that can harm your health. Let’s take these little things seriously and live a happy life.
What is a muehrcke's nail?
Muehrcke's nails. Muehrcke's nails or Muehrcke's lines ( apparent leukonychia striata) are changes in the fingernail that may be a sign of an underlying medical condition. The term refers to a set of one or more pale transverse bands extending all the way across the nail, parallel to the lunula. In contrast to Beau's lines, they are not grooved (no ...
What is a Mees line?
Mees' lines – a similar appearance, except the lines are in the nail and move as the nail grows. Half and half nails. Terry's nails. List of cutaneous conditions.
How long do protein lines stay visible?
The lines remain visible as long as protein intake is inadequate or synthesis is impaired, and they should disappear upon return to normal function.
Who discovered the white lines in blood?
Muehrcke's lines were described by American physician Robert C. Muehrcke (1921–2003) in 1956. In a study published in BMJ, he examined patients with known chronic hypoalbuminemia and healthy volunteers, finding that the appearance of multiple transverse white lines was a highly specific marker for low serum albumin (no subject with the sign had SA over 2.2 g/dL), was associated with severity of the underlying condition, and disappeared upon successful treatment (corticosteroids in nephrotic syndrome) or direct infusion of HSA.
Where are the lines on a half and half nail?
The lines are actually in the vascular bed underneath the nail plate. As such, they do not move with nail growth, and disappear when pressure is applied to the nail (blanching the underlying nail bed): this distinguishes them from "true leukonychia striata" such as Mees' lines. As in Terry's and half-and-half nails, the pattern is thought to be formed by bands of localized edema exerting pressure on the surrounding capillaries.
Is Muehrcke's line grooved?
In contrast to Beau's lines, they are not grooved ( no 3-dimensional deformity), and in contrast to Mees' lines, the thumb is usually not involved. Muehrcke's lines are a strong indicator of hypoalbuminemia, which can result from a variety of different causes. The lines are actually in the vascular bed underneath the nail plate.
What is a white nail?
Nails are generally a pinkish colour. A white nail describes the appearance of one or more fingernails and/or toenails that are partially or completely white in colour. This appearance is also called leukonychia.
Who gets a white nail?
White nails can affect anyone: males and females of any age or ethnicity.
What causes a white nail?
The nail plate can be damaged in part or whole by injury to the nail plate or the matrix (growth area at the base of the nail). Disruption of the horizontal layers of keratin, with air trapping, results in reflection and lack of transparency.
Differential diagnosis
Leukonychia should be distinguished from onycholysis, in which the nail plate appears white or yellowish because it has been lifted away from its underlying nail bed.
Investigations
If the cause of leukonychia is not clear, the following tests may be helpful.
What is the outcome for a white nail?
Leukonychia due to minor trauma or medication may completely resolve over a few months, In other cases, the white nail plate remains long term, or become recurrent.
Words nearby Muehrcke's lines
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
How to use Muehrcke's lines in a sentence
Granted, James is in an office in the Pentagon, and not on the front lines.
