• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.101-104
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• 2009

Purpose: Subungual squamous cell carcinoma is a very rare malignant tumor of the digitus especially in toe making it very difficult to differentiate with tinea unguium, verruca vulgaris, eczema, pyogenic granuloma, and malignant melanoma due to their clinical similarities. Therefore this article reports on subungual squamous cell carcinoma of left 5th toe. Methods: A patient visited at our hospital due to pain and incurable inflammation on left 5th toe with no improvement for four months. Despite of antibiotics and dressing for a week, treatment was ineffective. After excisional biopsy, he was diagnosed with subungual squamous cell carcinoma. And ray amputation and prophylactic inguinal lymph node dissection was done. Results: The biopsy was showed irregular cells made up of anaplastic and squamous cells in the dermis and epidermis. And the inguinal lymph node showed no metastatsis. The patient had been treated without significant complications and recurrence for a year. Conclusion: This article emphasizes the need of diagnostic biopsy on the subungual lesions that have resistance to the conventional treatments. And if that is subungual squamous cell carcinoma, complete resection of the lesion and prophylactic inguinal lymph node dissection is essential.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.199-203
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• 2005

Malignant melanoma commonly occurs in skin and the incidences are uncommon. Especially, the incidences of subungual melanoma is less than 2% of total numbers of melanoma, and most of the cases tended to be misdiagnosed at first time. Thus, the prognoses are not good. We are going to report our experiences of subungual melanoma and diagnostic criteria in great toe initially misdiagnosed as ingrowing nail with a review of the literature.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.398-400
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• 2011

Purpose: Subungual tumors are a common cause of nail plate deformity, and may be caused by fibrokeratoma, Koene's tumor and glomus tumors. Neurofibromas, either as part of neurofibromatosis or as a solitary tumor are exceptionally rare in the digits. Methods: A 44-year-old man presented with painless onychodystrophy and nail plate elevation of the right thumb due to a small subungual mass that had started growing 3 years ago. Sensory evaluation of the distal phalanx was normal, and no discoloration nor infection signs were seen. The nail plate was extracted under local anesthesia, and the mass was delicately removed without injury to the nail bed. The nail matrix was repaired with primary closure. Results: Histopathology shows a well circumscribed, cellular tumor with myxoid stroma. Tumor cells were S-100 protein positive, and the patient was diagnosed with myxoid neurofibroma. There has been no sign of recurrence to date, 14 months after the operation. Conclusion: Presentation of cutaneous neurofibromas in the digits is an uncommon finding. They may occur as a manifestation of neurofibromatosis or as a solitary tumor. Subungual neurofibromas are exceptionally rare. To our knowledge, there are only ten reports of solitary subungual neurofibroma unrelated to neurofibromatosis to date. We report a rare case of solitary subungual myxoid neurofibroma of the thumb, that was treated through total excision, with preservation of the nail matrix.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.97-99
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• 2007

Nail bed malignancies are rare entities. Most nail bed malignancies are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)s. Less than 10% of subungual SCCs occur in the foot. Fifty percent occurred on the hallux and approximately 25% on both the fourth and fifth digits. The correct diagnosis is often delayed because nail bed malignancies are frequently mistaken for benign or infectious processes. SCC on extremities is hard to distinguish from the benign lesion like chronic ulcer, fistula caused by chronic osteomyelitis, and abscess fistula. Attention should especially be paid in diagnosing the subungual lesion because paronychia is a common disease. SCC is the most common carcinoma second to malignant melanoma as a soft tissue malignant tumor in the West, and it involves mainly the head, neck and upper extremities but rarely involves lower extremities, particularly the toes. The authors emphasize the importance of a biopsy for chronic nonhealing lesions by presenting this case.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.106-110
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• 1996

A subungual exostosis is an uncommon benign osteochondral lesion that appears as a painful nodule. Histologically, the tumors consist of a proliferating fibrocartilaginous cap that merged into mature trabecular bone at its base. From 1989 through 1991, 5 patients with subungual exostosis were treated. Three of them had exostosis on the great toe. There were three girls and two boys. The average age of the patients was 10.6 years. All of patients were treated by local excision. Two cases of our patients treated with an incomplete excision were recurred within 3 months after the original procedure. Lack of awareness of unusual lesion can cause initial misdiagnosis in many cases. We considered that a complete excision of the lesion is important for preventing the recurrence, and it should be confirmed with intraoperative radiographs.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.244-248
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• 1995

Glomus tumor is uncommon tumor with an incidence of about 1% in soft tissue tumors and the single most common location is the subungual region of the finger. Many reports have emphasized that glomus tumors were difficult to diagnose and that the result of surgical removal was good, but nail deformity has received little attention. Most of authors removed the entire nail or partially splitted the nail to exposure the nail bed and tumor. Nobody reported whether nail deformity after operation was present or not. But, an abnormal nail is both a cosmetic and a functional problem in that catches on objects. In this study, our attention was postoperative nail deformity as well as the results of surgical removal. Seven patients(eight cases) who were diagnosed as a subungal glomus tumor in the hand were treated by surgical excision without removal of the nail and followed over twenty two months. And then we report on our experience with 8 cases of subungual glomus tumor which were successfully treated by complete excision without nail deformity.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.56-62
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• 1999

Purpose : This study was conducted to analyze the clinical materials and treatment results of 13 cases of subungual exostosis. Materials and Methods : Thirteen subungual exostoses of the foot treated from January 1991 to December 1997 were studied. We analyzed the clinical data and results of treatment to identify the clinical characteristics of this disease. We investigated the location, shape and relation of exostosis to phalanx with simple x-ray of the foot to identify the radiological characteristics. All the cases were sent to pathologic examination after resection to determine the pathological characteristics. Results : The results of physical examination on presentation were various. Most cases were located at the dorsomedial side of the distal phalanx and were involved in the toe nail. Eleven cases were located at great toes and one each at the 2nd and 3rd toe. Causes of exostosis were not clear, but 2 cases were related to trauma. For the type of exostosis, 7 cases were sessile and 6 were stalk type. On histologic examination, 9 cases showed a cartilaginous portion with overlying proliferating fibrous tissue and underlying bone formation. There was a gradual maturation of spindle cell proliferation from cartilage to cancellous bone. The cartilage was moderately cellular with some pleomorphism, but true anaplasia was not present. Conclusion : The clinical presentation and findings of simple x-rays were most helpful in diagnosing subungual exostosis. Complete excision of the mass achieved complete relief of symptoms and recovery without recurrence in all cases.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.101-105
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• 2023

Benign cartilaginous tumors, known as chondrogenic tumors, show cartilage components in the microscopic diagnosis. We present two clinical cases with cartilaginous tumors of the toes showing distinctive clinical manifestations. Two juvenile patients visited our outpatient clinic due to tumors with toenail deformities. A 10-year-old girl presented with a palpable mass with a nail deformity on the left third toe. The initial pathology report was soft tissue chondroma until complete resection. Another 15-year-old male patient visited the dermatology department with a toenail deformity and underwent a punch biopsy. The pathology report was fibrosis with myxoid degeneration. Excisional biopsies were performed for both patients. In the operative field, we observed exophytic tumors connected to the distal phalangeal bones. The final pathology reports were subungual osteochondroma on both patients. The specimen exhibited mature bone trabeculae with a focal cartilaginous cap. Benign cartilaginous tumors have a slow, progressive course and do not show significant symptoms. However, tumors in subungual areas are accompanied by toenail deformities and they can cause pain. Their clinical characteristics lead to a delayed diagnosis. Surgeons can be confused between soft tissue and chondrogenic tumors. When they conduct physical examinations, these categories should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.5
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• pp.1134-1140
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• 2022

Mixed tumors are well-circumscribed lesions exhibiting epithelial and/or myoepithelial cells and they usually occur in the skin and salivary glands. Soft tissue mixed tumors are extremely rare. Therefore, radiographic findings of soft tissue mixed tumors have very rarely been described in the radiologic literature. Here, we report a rare case of subungual mixed tumor in a 65-year-old female who presented with left 2nd finger pain, describe the radiographic findings, and discuss the differential diagnosis of the tumor.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2004

Purpose: We described our experience with subungual exostosis in the foot for which we used different surgical technique according as location and size of lesion and revealed excellent results. Materials and Methods: We experienced 12 cases of subungual exostosis that were treated surgically and followed them more than one year between October 1995 and July 2003. There were nine females and three males. The average age of patients at surgery was 13.4 years. Duration of symptoms was 20.3 months on average. The lesion involved the hallux in nine cases; eight dorsomedial and one dorsolateral aspect of distal phalangeal bone. It involved the second, the third, and the fifth toe in one each; all central aspect of dorsum of distal phalanx. We used surgical technique that involves approaching the exostosis under the nail to preserve nail coverage for lesion in the hallux. The nails were extracted totally but preserved nail bed as much as possible in other toes. Results were based on appearance of the regenerated nail and presence of recurrence. Excellent results were those in which the nail appeared nearly normal and there was no clinical or radiographic evidence of recurrence. Good results were associated with a minor nail deformity such as ridging, and no evidence of recurrence. Fair results had obvious nail deformity or a minimal asymptomatic recurrence that was discernable only on radiograph. Poor results were associated with a clinically evident symptomatic recurrence. Results: When the lesion involved hallux, there were six excellent and two good results, and one poor result. All cases that involved other toes revealed good results. Conclusion: We suggest that different surgical technique might be applied according as location and size of the lesion to achieve satisfactory results for subungual exostosis in the foot.