Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2021 Jun 21:1-3. Epub 2021 Jun 21.

Unit of Research in Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.

Onychomatricoma is a rare benign tumor of the nail matrix, characterized by finger-like projections that invade the nail plate. The fingernails of Caucasian women are most commonly affected. Because this tumor can easily mimic other more prevalent ungual diseases, it is crucial to be acquainted with its characteristic clinical and histopathologic features. Read More

JPRAS Open 2021 Sep 28;29:89-92. Epub 2021 May 28.

St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Tooting, Blackshaw Road, Tooting, London SW170QT, United Kingdom.

Objective: Here we describe the presentation, identification, operation details and subsequent histological analysis of an onychomatricoma, a benign rare subungual tumour that is often misidentified and diagnosed.

Methods: No public involvement to declare, patient was consented for surgical excision and provided verbal consent to photography and its use in publishing.

Participant: One 44-year-old female. Read More

Commun Biol 2021 06 7;4(1):692. Epub 2021 Jun 7.

Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Research on human nail tissue has been limited by the restricted access to fresh specimen. Here, we studied transcriptome profiles of human nail units using polydactyly specimens. Single-cell RNAseq with 11,541 cells from 4 extra digits revealed nail-specific mesenchymal and epithelial cell populations, characterized by RSPO4 (major gene in congenital anonychia) and SPINK6, respectively. Read More

Acta Biomed 2021 04 30;92(S1):e2021158. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago.

Introduction: Onychomatricoma is a rare subungual tumor composed of stroma and nail matrix-like epithelium. Only seven cases of the pigmented variant have been reported in the literature.

Case Report: We present a 62-year-old male patient with a 2-years history of a single fingernail thickening, deformation, and hyperpigmentation. Read More

Dermatol Clin 2021 Apr;39(2):281-292

Dermatology OHSU, Oregon Dermatology and Research Center, 2565 Northwest Lovejoy Street, Portland, OR, USA. Electronic address:

This article describes nail tumors and their clinical features, biologic behavior, and treatment. Tumors included are onychopapilloma, onychomatricoma, periungual fibromas/fibrokeratomas, glomus tumors, subungual exostosis, myxoid cysts, and squamous cell carcinoma. Read More

Am J Dermatopathol 2021 Jan;43(1):83-84

Laboratoire Central d'Anatomie Pathologique, Hôpital L. Pasteur, University of Nice, France.

Am J Dermatopathol 2020 08;42(8):622-623

Laboratoire Central d'Anatomie Pathologique, Hôpital L. Pasteur, University of Nice, France, Nail's Dermatology Consultations, Cannes, France.

Clin Exp Dermatol 2021 Jan 12;46(1):82-88. Epub 2020 Sep 12.

Centre Hospitalier de Lyon Sud, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and Centre de Recherche sur le Cancer de Lyon, Lyon, France.

Background: Subungual squamous cell carcinoma (SU-SCC) is the most common malignant tumour of the nail unit. Intraoperative nail dermoscopy has been described only for pigmented tumours, onychomatricoma and glomus tumours.

Aim: To establish a description of intraoperative dermoscopic features of SU-SCC. Read More

Cureus 2020 May 3;12(5):e7946. Epub 2020 May 3.

Dermatology, San Diego Family Dermatology, National City, USA.

Onychomatricoma is a rare, benign nail matrix tumor. It most frequently occurs on one of the first three fingers of the dominant hand or the big toe in middle-aged women. Our patient presented with a 10-year history of a progressive thickening of her right great toenail; it bled easily and was intermittently painful. Read More

Am J Dermatopathol 2020 Nov;42(11):827-834

Department of Dermatology, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Pierre Bénite, France; and.

Proliferating onychomatricoma is a new challenging variant of onychomatricoma that can clinically and histologically mimic squamous cell carcinoma/onycholemmal carcinoma. This is a retrospective case series study of the clinicopathologic and dermoscopic features of 6 patients with a pathologic diagnosis of proliferating onychomatricoma, which was conducted in the dermatology and dermatopathology departments of 2 university hospitals and a private nail's dermatology consultation. The clinical, histological, and immunohistochemical features and follow-up of 6 patients with proliferating onychomatricoma were analyzed; we compare our finding with 6 cases of conventional onychomatricoma. Read More

JAAD Case Rep 2020 Feb 17;6(2):89-91. Epub 2020 Jan 17.

Department of Dermatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.

J Cutan Pathol 2019 Dec;46(12):895-897

Department of Dermatology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Hand Surg Rehabil 2019 12 21;38(6):386-389. Epub 2019 Sep 21.

Department of plastic & reconstructive surgery, hand & microsurgery, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Cairo street, Beirut, Lebanon.

Pigmented onychomatricoma (OM) is a very rare benign fibroepithelial tumor of the nail matrix. We report the case of a 23-year-old Lebanese man with 15-year history of nail plate dystrophy with longitudinal ridging, yellowish discoloration, excessive transverse curvature and late-onset melanonychia along the medial third of the right thumb nail. Excisional biopsy was performed and confirmed OM. Read More

Am J Dermatopathol 2020 Feb;42(2):133-135

Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Hospital de Santo António dos Capuchos, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Alameda de Santo António dos Capuchos, Lisbon, Portugal; and.

Onychomatricoma is a slow-growing, benign neoplasm of the nail matrix with several histological variants. With only 2 cases previously reported, the term "myxoid onychomatricoma" has been used by some authors to describe a rare variant, known to have a fibromixoid component. We present a case of a 51-year-old Caucasian woman with a 1-year history of thickening and discoloration of the right thumbnail, who was initially misdiagnosed as onychomycosis. Read More

Am J Dermatopathol 2020 Feb;42(2):103-110

Laboratoire Central d'Anatomie Pathologique, Hôpital L. Pasteur, University of Nice, France; and.

This is a report of a previously undescribed type of onychomatricoma (OM) with an unusual clinical presentation as a thickened free edge of the nail plate without discernible cavities and distinguished histologically from the ordinary OM by 3 features: (1) the lack of cavitation at the proximal border of the nail plate and the small sizes of the cavities at the free edge of the distal nail plate; (2) a papillated epithelial hyperplasia pattern very different from the digitate pattern of the ordinary OM; and (3) a special pattern of matrical keratinization with pseudohorn cysts that mirror closely those found in onychocytic matricoma (OCM). Furthermore, the sex ratio and sites of the lesion seem different than those of conventional OM with the caveat that the numbers in this series are small. A practical approach to the diagnosis of onychogenic tumor mainly involves consideration of tumors that clinically present as localized longitudinal pachyonychia including melanoma and Bowen disease. Read More

Br J Dermatol 2019 12 13;181(6):e146. Epub 2019 Aug 13.

Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8 Xishiku Street, Xi Cheng District, Beijing, 100034, China.

Skin Appendage Disord 2019 Jun 8;5(4):246-250. Epub 2019 Mar 8.

Department of Dermatology, Military Hospital of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia.

Onychomatricoma (OM) is a rare benign tumour of the nail matrix characterized by specific clinical and histologic features. The main clinical signs are thickening of the nail plate, xanthonychia, overcurvature of the nail plate, and multiple splinter haemorrhages. The diagnosis is based on clinical, radiological and histopathological findings. Read More

J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2019 Nov 26;33(11):e420-e422. Epub 2019 Jun 26.

Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.

Skin Appendage Disord 2019 Apr 31;5(3):165-168. Epub 2018 Oct 31.

Dermatology Clinic, Hospital do Servidor Público Municipal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Onychomatricoma is a rare and specific benign tumor of the nail complex, with uncertain etiology. The avulsion of the nail plate reveals cavitations and orifices in its proximal extremity. These are associated with villous tumor formations generating digitiform projections at the nail matrix - typical intraoperative findings. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2019 Mar 6;112:93-105. Epub 2019 Jan 6.

Division of Radiology, Department of Imaging and Medical Informatics, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 4, 1211, Geneva 14, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Although the nail is a small anatomical structure, it can be affected by various tumors and tumor-like conditions. Because of the distinctive nail anatomy, the clinical presentation of tumors is modified, thus rendering the diagnosis challenging. As nail biopsy and surgery are painful procedures associated with an increased risk of permanent onychodystrophy, pre-operative diagnosis is desirable. Read More

Am J Dermatopathol 2019 Sep;41(9):649-651

Centro Médico Voth, Madrid, Spain.

We present a 41-year-old man with a hemionychodystrophy of the first toe, appearing as a longitudinal thickening of the nail plate, overcurved and with holes in its thickened free margin, thus leading to the clinical diagnosis of onychomatricoma. Complete excision showed typical nail plate of onychomatricoma and, underlying it, curvy disorganized neural-looking fascicles without atypia and with diffuse positivity for S100, interpreted as subungual neurofibroma (NF). Subungual NF is a very rare tumor, with only 12 previous cases reported. Read More

Am J Dermatopathol 2019 Feb;41(2):159-160

Department of Dermatology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX.

J Cutan Aesthet Surg 2018 Jul-Sep;11(3):143-147

Department of Dermatology, Topiwala National Medical College and B. Y. L. Nair Charitable Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

The clinical diagnosis of benign and malignant nail tumors can be difficult. Dermoscopy can provide a clue to the diagnosis but nail biopsy is the gold standard in establishing the diagnosis. Here, we report three cases of rare nail tumors, that is, onychopapilloma, onychomatricoma, and subungual osteochondroma, which were diagnosed on histopathology and managed surgically. Read More

Am J Dermatopathol 2020 Jan;42(1):68

Department of Dermatology, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Lisbon, Portugal.

Ann Dermatol 2018 Dec 26;30(6):727-728. Epub 2018 Oct 26.

Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Ann Dermatol 2018 Oct 28;30(5):637-639. Epub 2018 Aug 28.

Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Skin Appendage Disord 2018 Aug 23;4(3):171-173. Epub 2017 Nov 23.

Fredric Brandt Endowed Professor of Dermatology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.

First described in 1992, onychomatricoma is a rare, benign, fibroepithelial tumor of the nail matrix with few reported cases in the literature. The tumor predominately affects the fingers of Caucasian women during the 5th decade of life and is typically slow growing and painless. The authors present a unique clinical presentation of a giant onychomatricoma in a darker-skinned 60-year-old South Asian individual who presented with a large dome-shaped nail that was smooth, shiny, and green. Read More

Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2019 Mar-Apr;85(2):190-191

Department of Dermatology, Hospital Germans Trias I Pujol, Universitat Autónoma De Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2018 Nov 26;32(11):1874-1878. Epub 2018 Jun 26.

Department of Medical, Surgical and Neurological Science, Dermatology Section, S. Maria alle Scotte Hospital, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.

Onychomatricoma is a rare tumour that derives from the nail matrix and grows within the nail plate. The clinical presentation can mimic many other tumours and conditions, and surgical biopsy and histopathological examination are necessary to confirm the diagnosis. As nail surgery is a painful experience for the patient and sometimes can leave permanent onychodistrophy, more precise preoperative diagnosis is needed to distinguish onychomatricoma from other nail diseases more accurately and to limit surgical interventions. Read More

Skin Appendage Disord 2018 Apr 13;4(2):125-127. Epub 2017 Sep 13.

Dermatology Department, 12 de Octubre University Hospital, Madrid, Spain.