A Case of Posttraumatic Ectopic Nail

Kim, Byung Yoon; Yeon, Je Ho; Min, Seong Uk; Lee, Dong Hun; Suh, Dae Hun

Abstract

Ectopic nail is characterized by growth of nail-like tissue in a location other than the nail bed. It is an extremely rare disorder that can be either congenital or acquired from incidents such as trauma. An 8-year old female presented with a complaint of a nail-like lesion on the dorsal surface around the center of the right fifth toe. It had been present for 3 years, while the patient continuously clipped it upon growth. The fifth toe was initially injured by a chair that had fallen on that toe 4 years prior to her visit. There was no associated bony deformity or other physical changes in the nail. A clinical diagnosis of ectopic nail was made and it was surgically excised under local anesthesia. The histopathological examination revealed a normal nail unit and there was no recurrence during the 6 month follow-up period.