Nail Changes in Hemodialysis Patients and Renal Transplant Recipients (A Case-Control Study)

摘要

Background: Nail changes are important tools for diagnosis and monitoring progression of many systemic diseases. In chronic renal failure; those on hemodialysis and renal transplant recipients may exhibit various nail changes. Giving a great clue for the renal function status. Objective: To determine, The frequencys of nail changes in patients with hemodialysis and renal transplant recipients, and to investigate whether these nail pathologies were related to hemodialysis and renal transplantation. Methods: The study is an observational cross sectional case control multicenteric study and was carried out at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, AL-Karama Teaching Hospital, and AL-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in a period extending from September 2009 to December 2010. Two hundred and ten patients undergo hemodialysis and 200 renal transplant recipients were screened for the presence of nail changes. The findings in these groups were compared with findings in 200 healthy individuals. Results: One hundred and fifty three patients (78.85%) in group of hemodialysis and 118 patients (59%) in the renal transplant recipients had at least one type of nail changes. Absence of lunula, half-and-half nails and leukonychia were significantly more common in the patients with hemodialysis and in the renal transplant recipients. Leukonychia was significantly more frequent in the renal transplant recipients than in the hemodialysis patients and controls. Conclusion: Patients undergo Hemodialysis and renal transplant recipients had higher rates of nail changes than the healthy population. Renal transplantation may reduce the frequencies of nail changes; absence of lunula, and half and-half nails. Interestingly, leukonychia increase significantly after renal transplantation.