The Beau's Line Secondary to Acute Hand Injury.

Kim, Tak Ho; Chung, Sung Mo; Lee, Nae Ho; Yang, Kyung Moo

Case Report

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 2006;33(5):652-654.
Published online September 1, 2006.

The Beau's Line Secondary to Acute Hand Injury.

Tak Ho Kim, Sung Mo Chung, Nae Ho Lee, Kyung Moo Yang

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Medical School, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea. takky@dreamwiz.com

Abstract

Beau first described transverse depressions of the fingernails after an acute febrile illness in 1846. It was the result of the temporary arrest of nail matrix formation. The transient interference of nail growth rate is usually induced by disability caused by severe systemic disease. Such as Raynaud disease, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, acute renal failure, psoriasis and dysmenorrhea were reported to be the cause of Beau's line. The trauma caused either in a hand or in a forearm was also reported to be the cause of Beau's line. We experienced patients with Beau's line, two cases secondary to fingertip injury and one case due to fracture in radius. They had Beau's lines in all fingers of traumatized hand and nails of opposite hand were normal. During the follow-up, the growth rate of traumatized fingernails were normal and there was no complication.

Keywords: Beau's line; Hand injury