A dermatophytic infection of the nail, characterized by onychauxis (hypertrophy of the nail plate caused by
keratin pileup); onycholysis (nail plate separation from the nail bed); and dystrophic, thickened, broken, and
discolored nails (white, yellow, brown, black). Browning of the plate (with peeling and splitting of the
edge) also occurs, together with ridging and white spots. Note that, although dystrophic nails are often
onychomycotic, half of them are not (and instead due to trauma, psoriasis, or lichen planus). Hence, always
do scraping and KOH staining to rule out fungal infection.
keratin pileup); onycholysis (nail plate separation from the nail bed); and dystrophic, thickened, broken, and
discolored nails (white, yellow, brown, black). Browning of the plate (with peeling and splitting of the
edge) also occurs, together with ridging and white spots. Note that, although dystrophic nails are often
onychomycotic, half of them are not (and instead due to trauma, psoriasis, or lichen planus). Hence, always
do scraping and KOH staining to rule out fungal infection.