Cutaneous manifestations of liver cirrhosis in an African (negroid) population
George, A.O.; Malabu, U.H.; Olubuyide, I.O.
Tropical and Geographical Medicine 47(4): 168-170
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-3232 PMID: 8560589 Document Number: 446648
Sixty negroid patients with liver cirrhosis were examined for their cutaneous features at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. When compared with age and sex matched controls, the cirrhotic patients had significantly lower body temperature, onycholysis and hyperpigmented palmo-plantar macular areas (p lt 0.05). Until now, these features have not been previously associated with liver cirrhosis. Other cutaneous signs such as sparse silky hair, female pubic hair pattern, digital clubbing, leuconychia, ankle oedema and corneal jaundice are found more commonly in cirrhotic patients (p lt 0.05) and have been previously documented. All these features in a middle-aged man with hepatoynegaly may be of added distinctive value particularly in many rural centres in tropical countries where facilities for definitive histological diagnosis are frequently lacking. The relevance of some of these cutaneous features in the light of the pattern described in Caucasians is also discussed.