Nail changes associated with chemotherapy in children.

BACKGROUND

Large series of chemotherapy-induced nail changes in children have rarely been reported in the literature.

OBJECTIVE

To study the pattern and onset of nail changes in cancer children receiving various chemotherapy regimens.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was performed on 30 paediatric patients (aged 1-17, mean 8.3 years), including 11 with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, five with acute myeloid leukaemia, and others.

RESULTS

Nail changes developed in 10 children during chemotherapy, five of whom had Muehrcke's lines, three Beau's lines, one Mees' lines and another had trachyonychia. There appeared to be no correlation between the pattern of nail alteration and the underlying cancer types or stages, or the regimens of chemotherapy.

CONCLUSION

One third of the children with cancers developed nail changes associated with chemotherapy. Among them, Muehrcke's lines were the most common manifestation, which were unrelated to hypoalbuminaemia in our series.