Beau's lines

Beau's lines
ICD-10	L60.4
ICD-9	703.8

WikiDoc Resources for Beau's lines
Articles
Most recent articles on Beau's lines Most cited articles on Beau's lines Review articles on Beau's lines Articles on Beau's lines in N Eng J Med, Lancet, BMJ
Media
Powerpoint slides on Beau's lines Images of Beau's lines Photos of Beau's lines Podcasts & MP3s on Beau's lines Videos on Beau's lines
Evidence Based Medicine
Cochrane Collaboration on Beau's lines Bandolier on Beau's lines TRIP on Beau's lines
Clinical Trials
Ongoing Trials on Beau's lines at Clinical Trials.gov Trial results on Beau's lines Clinical Trials on Beau's lines at Google
Guidelines / Policies / Govt
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Beau's lines NICE Guidance on Beau's lines NHS PRODIGY Guidance FDA on Beau's lines CDC on Beau's lines
Books
Books on Beau's lines
News
Beau's lines in the news Be alerted to news on Beau's lines News trends on Beau's lines
Commentary
Blogs on Beau's lines
Definitions
Definitions of Beau's lines
Patient Resources / Community
Patient resources on Beau's lines Discussion groups on Beau's lines Patient Handouts on Beau's lines Directions to Hospitals Treating Beau's lines Risk calculators and risk factors for Beau's lines
Healthcare Provider Resources
Symptoms of Beau's lines Causes & Risk Factors for Beau's lines Diagnostic studies for Beau's lines Treatment of Beau's lines
Continuing Medical Education (CME)
CME Programs on Beau's lines
International
Beau's lines en Espanol Beau's lines en Francais
Business
Beau's lines in the Marketplace Patents on Beau's lines
Experimental / Informatics
List of terms related to Beau's lines

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [2] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.

Overview

Beau's lines are deep grooved lines that run from side to side on the fingernail. They may look like indentations or ridges in the nail plate. Beau's lines are the result of a temporary cessation of cell division in the nail matrix. This may be caused by an infection or problem in the nail fold, where the nail begins to form, or it may be caused by an injury to that area or a systemic process.

Historical Perspective

This condition of the nail was named by a French physician, Joseph Honoré Simon Beau (1806–1865), who first described it in 1846.

Causes

Causes by Organ System

Cardiovascular	No underlying causes
Chemical / poisoning	No underlying causes
Dermatologic	Multiple underlying causes
Drug Side Effect	Multiple underlying causes, most notably chemotherapy
Ear Nose Throat	No underlying causes
Endocrine	Diabetes
Environmental	No underlying causes
Gastroenterologic	No underlying causes
Genetic	No underlying causes
Hematologic	No underlying causes
Iatrogenic	No underlying causes
Infectious Disease	No underlying causes
Musculoskeletal / Ortho	No underlying causes
Neurologic	No underlying causes
Nutritional / Metabolic	Malnutrition
Obstetric/Gynecologic	No underlying causes
Oncologic	Chemotherapy
Opthalmologic	No underlying causes
Overdose / Toxicity	Chemotherapy
Psychiatric	No underlying causes
Pulmonary	No underlying causes
Renal / Electrolyte	Hypocalcemia
Rheum / Immune / Allergy	No underlying causes
Sexual	No underlying causes
Trauma	Trauma in general and to the nail in particular
Urologic	No underlying causes
Miscellaneous	Deep sea diving

Causes in Alphabetical Order

• Chemotherapy particularly cytotoxic agents
• Dermatologic disorders
• Diabetes
• Drugs
• Hypocalcemia
• Malnutrition
• Trauma

Diagnosis

Physical Examination

Beau's lines should be distinguished from Muehrcke's lines of the fingernails. While Beau's lines are actual ridges and indentations in the nail plate, Muehrcke's lines are areas of hypopigmentation without palpable ridges.

Recent Research on Beau's Lines

A researcher found Beau's lines in the fingernails of 6 divers following a deep saturation dive to a pressure equal to 335 meters of sea water, and in 2 of 6 divers following a similar dive to 305 meters.

External links

• Image of Beau's Lines at Johns Hopkins University
• Images of Beau's Lines