Nails

Question

What is so special about the nails of children with CF? In one of the first contacts with our doctor he checked the nails of our baby son, but we forgot to ask him what’s so special about nails in CF.

Answer

Dear ECORN-user,

Children with CF can have deformities of the nails. In doctor’s terms we call this ‘clubbing’. When you look sideways on the nail, they appear convex (bulging) rather than flat. In extreme cases the end of the fingertip can be deformed as well, that means wider and thicker than normal and that’s why it is called ‘drumstick deformity’.

‘Clubbing’ of the nails is a sign of decrease in oxygen or excessive inflammation in specific organs or tissues. When the doctor checks for a chronic disease of the airways in children, he will always asses if the child has clubbing. It’s one of these signs that alert the doctor to the possibility of a chronic disease. Not all children with CF do have clubbing and there is also no strict link between the severity of clubbing and the severity of lung disease in cystic fibrosis. Clubbing is also not specific to cystic fibrosis. It can occur in other chronic diseases, such as heart diseases with blue discoloration, liver diseases or chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

Kind regards

Prof. Dr. K. De Boeck

02.01.2012