Beau’s lines

Horizontal grooves on the fingernails which arise when the nails stop growing due to poor health, first described by Joseph Beau in 1846.

Aetiology
Local infection, trauma or psoriasis; systemic disease—e.g., coronary artery occlusion, hypocalcaemia, diabetes, malnutrition; drugs—e.g., beta-blockers, chemotherapy.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

This may be due to proximal nail separation extending distally representing progression of Beau's lines. It's most often due to local or systemic disease such as infection with a high fever.

Nails Can Provide Clues to Internal Disease Processes

I can't be sure without seeing and examining you, but you may have Beau's lines - ridges that run across the nails caused by a temporary interference with nail formation.

Health: Dear Doctor; Dr Mark Porter answers your questions on everything from how to get rid of a pot belly, to whether the state of your nails can indicate an underlying health problem

The nail changes found out in this study were pitting, subungual hyperkeratosis, onycholysis, Beau's lines, onychoschizia and longitudinal melanonychia (Table 1).

A clinical study of nail changes in common papulosquamous disorders

The differential diagnosis of external nail deformation includes median nail dystrophy, chronic proximal nail fold inflammation, onychomycosis, psoriasis, Beau's lines, and habit-tic-like dystrophy.

Bilateral thumbnail deformity: was there a connection between the patient's nail deformity and his new job as a military intelligence officer?

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