Roentgenographic and clinical signs in yellow nail syndrome

The yellow nail syndrome is a rare condition consisting of thickened opaque yellow nails, lymphedema and respiratory symptoms such as bronchitis or pleural effusions. In a 25-year-old woman, presenting all clinical signs of this syndrome, lymphangiography revealed impaired lymphdrainage of both legs. Both, number and size of the lymph vessels and regional lymph nodes were found to be reduced and several extravasations of the contrast medium were noted. Lymphangiography may help to establish the diagnosis of yellow nail syndrome, especially if the assocation of clinical anomalies is incomplete.