Nail Clubbing

Excerpt

Clubbing of the nails is soft tissue swelling of the terminal phalanx, resulting in the straightening of the angle between the nail bed and the nail. The association of clubbing of the fingers with an underlying disease has been known since Hippocrates. Clubbing is combined with other dermatologic and skeletal findings but can also less commonly occur in isolation. Although clubbing can present in many diverse conditions, it can be idio­pathic or familial; the familial form frequently transmits as a dominant trait (see Image. Clubbing of Digits).