“You Have a Syndrome”—Words You Don’t Want to Hear from a Doctor. Battling Yellow Nail Syndrome

Bauer, Marsha A.; Bauer, Kenneth F.

doi:10.1513/annalsats.201408-403or

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

(10 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Withdrawal of titanium exposure led to improvement of the symptoms in the early stage of the disease, 18 but did not help in a patient with advanced disease. 19 Another source of titanium exposure is by uptake of titanium dioxide from the digestive tract. The brightness and high refractive index of titanium dioxide have made it widely used as a color additive or coating agent in sunscreen, toothpaste, medication tablets, chewing gum, confectionaries, and cosmetics.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Titanium Dioxide in Toothpaste Causing Yellow Nail Syndrome

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Yellow nail syndrome (YNS) is an uncommon disorder, the classic triad of which consists of yellow nails, lymphedema, and respiratory symptoms. Few pediatric cases have been reported. We report a 9-year-old girl with yellowish nail discoloration for 1 year accompanied by respiratory symptoms, including chronic cough, recurrent pneumonia, bronchiectasis, and chronic sinusitis. The patient was diagnosed with YNS. Knowing that a relationship between YNS and titanium has been reported, we collected her nail clippings and detected titanium in them by energy dispersive radiograph fluorescence. This patient's titanium exposure may have come from her habit of swallowing children's toothpaste. With meticulous avoidance of swallowing toothpaste, she had amelioration of her yellow nail discoloration as well as diminution of her respiratory symptoms. We reevaluated her nail clippings for titanium 3 years later, and no titanium was detected. This observation suggests that avoiding titanium exposure could alleviate the symptoms of YNS. This is the first report of YNS in a pediatric patient that demonstrates a relationship between YNS and titanium. We review the previous reports of pediatric patients with YNS.

show abstract

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%