A popular (well at least popular with me) TV show concerns two 'mad' scientists who love nothing more than to explode urban myths. For instance they have investigated the possibility of death by urinating on a live railway line! We could do with something similar in finance. We have a bad habit of accepting theories as fact within finance, of accepting statements as if they were truths. Even wh...

INTRODUCTION There are limited numbers of studies which focused on the identification of Malassezia yeasts to a species level in onychomycosis. Therefore, the aim of our study was to determine the prevalence and species composition of Malassezia yeasts in patients with clinically suspected onychomycosis and to examine if the range of species varies with patient gender, age, site of involvement ...

AIMS AND BACKGROUND A direct association between exposure to the metalloid selenium and risk of cutaneous melanoma has been suggested by some observational and experimental cohort studies, whereas other studies have yielded inconsistent results. Since some of the inconsistencies may be due to exposure misclassification arising from the use of exposure indicators that do not adequately reflect b...

Vol. 5 (6D) n June 2005 BACKGROUND (CASE 1) A 41-year-old woman presented with no complaints of pain, but she was concerned about discoloration of her toenails. She has a black belt in karate and works as a karate teacher. She works out in her bare feet and is embarrassed by the condition of her toenails. She had approximately 25% to 30% distal involvement in her toenail, with no other nail inv...

Background. Ingrowing toenails are a common condition which, when recurrent and painful, are often treated surgically. The aim of this study is to present a new simple surgical technique for ingrown toenails with good results. Method and Patients. The selected 250 patients with affected toes were surgically treated by our technique and observed from 1998 to 2004. Marginal nail elevation combine...

CASE REPORT A 47-year-old Caucasian man presented to the dermatology department for evaluation of a mass on his left foot. Six years prior, the patient had dropped a sledgehammer on his left great toe causing significant toenail damage, nail loss, and enlarging ulceration despite meticulous wound care. Ten months before presentation, the patient noted rapid growth of the left great toe mass tha...

BACKGROUND Subungual exostosis is a relatively uncommon, benign osteocartilaginous tumor of the distal phalanx of the toes or fingers in young adults, considered as a rare variant of osteochondroma. Differential diagnoses include subungual verruca (viral wart), pyogenic granuloma, osteochondroma, amelanotic subungual melanoma and glomus tumour. Misdiagnosis and total onychodystrophy frequently ...

BACKGROUND Mycological diagnosis of onychomycosis can be performed by direct microcopy (KOH), cultures and calcofluor white. AIMS To compare the percentage of positivity and the degree of correlation of KOH, cultures and calcofluor white for the diagnosis of onychomycosis. METHODS Descriptive, transversal and comparative study. Samples of toenails with onychomycosis were used for KOH, cultu...

This study reports on data obtained from a pilot survey focusing on house dust and toenail metal(loids) concentrations in residents living in the industrial city of Estarreja. The study design hereby described aims at investigating relationships between human toenails and both copper and manganese levels in settled house dusts. A total of 21 households and 30 individuals were recruited for the ...

Eighty children had cotton wool pledgets inserted under the nail corner for ingrowing toenails. Success was achieved in 44 (72%) of the 61 children followed up for a mean of 2.5 years. Appearance was excellent and compliance high. Initial insertion under anaesthesia improved the results, and chronicity did not adversely affect the outcome.