Multiple linear red bands on the fingernails: idiopathic polydactylous longitudinal erythronychia

Longitudinal erythronychia refers to a linear red band that extends from the proximal nail fold or lunula to the distal tip of the nail. Multiple digits with one or more longitudinal red streaks, presenting in an individual without an associated skin condition, systemic disease, or subungual tumor, characterizes idiopathic polydactylous longitudinal erythronychia (IPLE). The nail findings in a woman with asymptomatic IPLE since childhood are described and the salient features of this condition in this individual and the 10 previously reported patients are summarized. IPLE is a nail dyschromia of undefined pathogenesis for which affected persons can be reassured of the benign nature of the condition and whose nails only require clinical monitoring.