ABSTRACT
Lichen planus (LP) is a relatively common inflammatory skin disease that lasts from months to years. It usually affects people between the age of 30 and 70 and is slightly more prevalent in women than in men. Five types of nail LP have been described: typical nail matrix LP, nail bed LP, trachyonychia, idiopathic atrophy of the nails, and bullous-erosive LP. Nail degloving syndrome, which includes a thimble-shaped nail shedding with the walls of the thimble composed of the skin of the distal digit including the nail plate, a partially sloughed-off nail plate with its surrounding tissue and sparing of the surrounding epidermis of the distal digit, can be caused by, among others, nail lichen planus. LP is characterized by compact orthokeratosis, wedge-shaped hypergranulosis, irregular acanthosis, damage of the basal cell layer, and a band-like inflammatory infiltrate in the upper dermis.
