THE SENILE NAIL

[摘要] The senile nail is characterized grossly by dullness, opacity, increased longitudinal ridging, changes in color, alterations in thickness and masking of the lunula. Microscopically, the nail may show ridging, changes in thickness, an increase in pertinax bodies, terminal splitting, peculiarities when studied with the von Kossa stain for Ca, and irregularities in the proximal nail generative region. The nail bed may show thickening of the walls of blood vessels with or without changes in elastic tissue; senile cutaneous changes, including merging of elastic and connective tissue in the cutis, also may be present. Thus, histologic features in the senile nail differ from those in the mature nail.