Melanonychia, or melanin-derived brown-to-black nail pigmentation, is the most serious disease of the nail unit, melanoma, primarily presents with melanonychia. The current article focuses on the clinical aspects of this entity. Melanonychia most often occurs as a result of benign etiologies such as nail matrix melanocytic activation, nail matrix melanocytic hyperplasia, and nail invasion by melanin-producing pathogens.
Regrettably, patients with nail apparatus melanoma are often initially misdiagnosed, and due to diagnostic delays of an average of 2 years, melanoma of the nail unit carries a poor prognosis. Melanonychia Roughly two-thirds of cases of nail apparatus melanoma (NAM) are characterized by melanin-derived brown-to-black nail pigmentation or melanonychia. It's an ambiguous clinical finding that most commonly occurs as a result of benign etiologies such as nail matrix…
