Mees' lines
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Mees' lines or Aldrich–Mees' lines, also called leukonychia striata, are lines of discoloration across the nails of the fingers and toes.
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Causes
Mees' lines appear after an episode of poisoning with arsenic, thallium or other heavy metals, and can also appear if the subject is suffering from renal failure. They have been observed in chemotherapy patients.
Presentation
They are typically white bands traversing the width of the nail. As the nail grows they move towards the end, and finally disappear when trimmed.
Eponym and history
Although the phenomenon is named after Dutch physician R.A. Mees, who described the abnormality in 1919, earlier descriptions of the same abnormality were made by Englishman E. S. Reynolds in 1901 and by American C. J. Aldrich in 1904.
See also
- Leukonychia
- List of cutaneous conditions
- Muehrcke's nails – a similar condition, except the lines are underneath the nails and so do not move as the nail grows
